Campus Club Crusaders!
by KismetDoll
Summary: [SoRiku][AkuRoku] College is hard when your rival got the Captains position you wanted, your roommate won't shut up about the 7th Harry Potter book, and your best friend's greatest joy is humiliating you. Riku just wants a break but what he gets is...[AU]
1. Was it something about clubs

Title: Campus Club Crusaders!  
Series: Kingdom Hearts II  
Author: ConfessYourSins  
Rating: PG-13  
Main Characters: Sora, Riku, Axel, and Roxas  
Warnings: Language and boys loving boys XD  
Pairings: Riku / Sora, AkuRoku  
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II or the characters in it.

**Campus Club Crusaders!**

* * *

_**Chapter One  
Was it something about clubs... or Captains?

* * *

**_

Sora headed tiredly back to his room. His very messy room he discovered as he opened the door and barely missed the flying object that obviously was meant to hit the door until he opened it. Sora turned around quickly and glanced momentarily at the book on the floor, closed the door, then turned back to find a very red faced nearly steaming Riku.

"Uh, hi?" he said meekly as he let his backpack slide off his shoulder onto the floor. Riku looked through Sora at the door.

"Son of a bitch."

Turning around again, Sora noticed a picture of Seifer on the back of their door. "Um, why is Seifer on our door? I didn't think he was _that _popular…"

"He made Captain. He made Captain instead of _me. _That's just stupid!" Riku grabbed another book off Sora's desk and threw it at the door. Sora side-stepped out of the way and nearly cried when he realized that it was his beloved Harry Potter.

"Not the fifth book! That's my favorite!" he cried as he fell to his knees and grabbed the broken book to cradle it in his arms. "Sirius!"

Riku took off his shoe and threw it at the picture on the door. "Is that better? How about that? Did you _like that_ you stupid ass monkey!"

"Ass… monkey? When did you come up with that?"

"RIGHT NOW!"

"O-okay…" Sora stuttered in a high pitched voice. "Um, I'll take it you're not going to come to dinner then?"

Riku sighed and leaned against the desk, brushing his silver hair out of his face. "He'll be there too. I'm not going."

Sora resisted the urge to laugh as he stood up. "Erm… if that's what you want. Do you want me to bring you something back from the cafeteria?" Riku shook his head and stared at the picture of Seifer with a dirty look on his face. "Suit yourself. Um, if you change your mind you know where to find me."

"Yeah, whatever."

Sora grabbed his meal card off of his desk, careful not to get too close to Riku, then hurried out the door. After closing it he sighed heavily and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. "He didn't have to throw Harry."

"What is it with you and talking to yourself?"

Sora's eyes fluttered open, his ocean blues wide searching for the familiar voice. "Roxas?" he asked as he turned his head to the left. Sure enough Roxas was walking toward him with a stack of books. The look on his face was tired and annoyed and more than anything, hungry. Very hungry. Sora could see Roxas licking his lips in his head and pulling out a fork with his eyes on the prize...

"… Hey, did you hear anything I just said?" Roxas asked as he let all the books in his hands fall to the floor with multiple thuds. "Hello? Sora?"

Sora responded with a big grin and a slight wave of the hand. The image of Roxas preparing to eat him flew out of his mind as he stared at pile of books laying unhappily in front of his door. "That's a safety hazard," he pointed out, literally taking his finger and pointing to the books. Roxas gave him an amused look that seemed to scream, Yeah, I know.

"And you want me to do what?"

"Pick 'em up. If Riku comes out he's going to trip and then it'll be the end of us all!" Sora joked with a goofy smile.

And then the door opened. Sora and Roxas looked at the opened door and an angry Riku storming out and before they could stop him he had stepped on one of Roxas's shiny new textbooks, tripped, and fallen flat on his face. Roxas jumped up and slapped his tanned hands over his mouth, unable to utter a word. Sora reached one hand out, retracted it, then shouted, "Run!"

So they ran. They ran until they reached the quad and were quite sure that Riku had not followed them, or at least hadn't caught up to them. Out of breath and scared beyond words, they took refuge in the first unlocked door they could find. They closed the door quietly and locked it, then Roxas searched the wall for a light.

"I can't see anything!" he hissed. "It's so dark in here! Where are we, anyway?"

"I don't know," Sora replied as he searched the opposite wall. "I just hope Riku doesn't follow us in here… Maybe he's unconscious on the floor. That would buy us some time, like an hour or something. _Maybe."_

"Oh man, we're dead. Wait!" Roxas felt something on the wall and hit it with his finger. "Hey, it didn't work!"

"… That's because that's my hand, you idiot."

"Hey, who're you calling an idiot?!" Roxas snapped as he smashed his fist into what he had first thought was as button.

"Oww!" the voice yelped. The hand moved and a moment later the lights came on. A tall, pale redhead was standing near Roxas, face flushed with anger and annoyance. "What the hell do you think you're doing? This room is off-limits except to members!"

"Members? Of what?" Sora asked.

"Of the Destiny Island Video Game Association. Duh. And you…" he trailed off and looked Roxas up and down with a dirty little grin, "do not look like a gamer. You guys look like a bunch of nerds."

"Hey, I'm a part of the International Harry Potter Book Club Alliance and we are not nerds!" Sora shouted as he stomped his foot on the ground.

The redhead shrugged and waved his hand in circles. "The IHPBCA? Ugh. You nerds are all the same. Yap yap yapping away… Anyway, this room is reserved _strictly_ for the DIVGA so you guys can be on your merry way. I've got a meeting here in a little bit and a lot to do." He turned and started to walk away until Roxas sneered,

"All gamers are the same. No social skills."

The redhead stopped dead in his tracks and both Sora and Roxas could almost feel the heat coming off the stranger. Turning around slowly, the redhead hissed, "No… social skills? You want to tell me that _I _don't have any _social skills?!_ Who do you think you are anyway? I've got half a mind to _fry you to a freaking crisp! Got it memorized?!"_

It took two seconds for Sora and Roxas to go through the mental response to a threat. During the first second they decided that the stranger was really angry and would probably kill them. In the following second – the afterthought – they made a probable judgement that they must immediately run away to eliminate their newest threat. So they turned and ran right back out the door into the quad only to find a very angry Riku holding an ice pack to his face along with a very large bat.

"Oh."

"Crap," Sora finished for Roxas as they turned to their right and headed into the cafeteria. They sprinted through as fast as possible, which really wasn't that fast at all since it was the middle of the dinner rush, and managed to sneak – or rather force – their way into the kitchen. It was there that they skillfully dodged hot pans, teetering dishes and innumerable utensils to escape out the back door into the East Wing of the school.

With a sigh they collapsed onto the ground on their knees. "I… need somewhere to sleep tonight," Sora said with just a smidge of difficulty. "He's… probably going to kill me. No, definitely going to kill me. Not only did he fall on his face he _bruised_ his pretty little face and—"

"I'm going to pretend that your brain is deprived of oxygen and you did _not_ just say Riku has a pretty face," Roxas interrupted with a wary but curious look in Sora's direction. "I mean… not that there's anything _wrong_ with Riku's face. It's just _wrong_ coming out of your mouth."

"Roxas…"

"I don't want to hear it. You can crash in my dorm tonight."

"Thanks."

* * *

Roxas flung open the door to the former art studio turned projection room. "Sorry I'm late! I was just grabbing a bite to – Hey!" He pointed his finger in horror, eyes nearly popping out of his head, at the tall redhead sitting in his seat at his meeting in his room during his scheduled club gathering. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

The redhead turned toward Roxas, did a double take – eyes huge and buggered - then blinked once and shook his head, spikey red hair bouncing like it was actually real and not some ridiculous wig. At least, Roxas assumed so. "… Oh you have got to be kidding me. _You're_ the president of the Anime Club?"

"Well yeah."

"Of all the people…" He sighed and silently cursed God, then apologized and quickly said a prayer that he would cast fire and brimstone down on the annoying boy with ridiculously spiked hair. Hello, hair. Would you like to meet Mr. Brush? He grinned at his joke but quickly turned his attention back to bane of his existence. "We – as in the DIVGA – are here to discuss the terms for sharing the projection room."

Roxas almost fell over. "Sharing? We've had this room for the past year – there's no way you noobs are going to take it from us!"

The redhead grinned and took a few steps toward Roxas. "Noobs? I'm pretty sure that's a gamer term. What're you geeks doin' using gamer lingo? 'Cause by the looks of you all," he glanced around the room at the students wearing their Anime t-shirts and baseball caps, "I'd have to say that y'all would be pwned, and not in a good way."

"Getting pwned is never a good thing," Roxas muttered as the redhead walked closer. He lowered his voice and found his eyes falling to the floor as the redhead towered over him nearly a head taller and cursed himself for not eating his vegetables. If only he'd eaten that asparagus last night he might be able to destroy this foul being that threatened his precious anime club.

"Listen, we're going to use this room and there's nothing you can do about it," the redhead said. "Alright?"

Roxas looked up and gave the redhead his dirtiest look. "No way! This is our room and you're not going to take it from us. If we have to, we'll fight!" He jumped back and got in a fighting stance. "You can take it from us but first you'll have to defeat us!"

The redhead looked at Roxas and his annoyance suddenly turned into amusement. "Fight… you?" he repeated as if he couldn't believe the words were coming out of his mouth. The corners of his mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh. Who was this kid to come out of nowhere after smashing his hand the day before and demand to have the projection room all to himself? After all, it was a free country. Not to mention he had stupid hair and stupid clothes and stupid everything and watched stupid anime. Oh, he would win the battle alright and there wasn't a single anime nerd who could stop him.

"There won't be any fighting at all." Both the redhead and Roxas looked toward the door where Cloud, the head of the Campus Police, was standing. "Roxas, you knew that this might happen so don't act so surprised that someone else requested this room. For the time being you're both going to have to share this room until the school finds funding for another projector and space to accommodate both clubs. If I hear about any fighting…" he trailed off and smiled. Both the redhead and Roxas shivered and knew they would have nightmares about that particular smile on that particular person. "And Axel? … Don't scare the kiddies." Cloud walked away and Axel turned his attention back to Sora.

"Your name is… Axel? What kind of name is that?"

"A good one. Your name is Roxas. That's kinda stupid."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"No, it's not!"

"Is _too!_ And if you say another word I am going to eat your stupid head with your stupid hair and then spit out your skull," Axel said with a daunting look designed just for Roxas. Roxas grinned and leaned in close to Axel, then whispered,

"You promise?"

Axel jumped back and gave Roxas a creeped out look. "Whoa man, back up there!"

Roxas shrugged and started to walk to the door. "Suit yourself. You were the one who offered, anyway."

* * *

"You did _what?!" _Sora asked, shocked at his friend's apparently destined meeting with the one they had now deemed Tall Pansy Man of the Red Porcupine Hair. "That's a little…"

"That's what I was going for, duh," Roxas said as he chowed down on the pathetic attempt the cafeteria had made of fetuccini alfredo with chicken. "Man, was he _freaked out."_

Sora nodded his head mindlessly as he spotted Riku sitting across the cafeteria by himself, as usual, eating his lunch silently. "He looks so sad… and puffy. Ooh, his face looks really puffy. He fell pretty hard, huh?"

Roxas looked up at Sora who had completely zoned into Riku. "What, are you making out with him in your friggin' mind Sora?" he joked. Sora turned back to Roxas and shook his head. "Yeah, whatever. You think he's still mad?"

"He looks kinda sad today…"

"Then go cheer him up and make sure he doesn't want to kill me. I've already got an arch rival now and I need to be alive so I can destroy him. Ooh, how I will destroy that stupid porcupine head." Roxas giggled as he finished the last bites of his rubbery noodles and downed his cup of water. "Hehehe…"

Sora wasn't listening however; his eyes were focused on Riku who was toying with a torn book. He hadn't even touched his meal and Sora worried he wasn't eating again. Whenever Riku was upset he forgot to eat until he nearly passed out from hunger and dehydration. "It wouldn't be the first time…"

"Stop talking to yourself. It's creepy. Anyway, I've got class so I'll see you later!" Roxas said happily as he jumped up out of his seat and practically skipped away. Sora arched an eyebrow as he glanced at the fleeting straps of Roxas's pants, then looked to where Riku was sitting. Riku was gone however and just as Sora was about to search the cafeteria Riku sat down next to him.

"Eep!" he squealed in surprise. "R-Riku!"

"Here." Riku tossed the book he had been playing with earlier at Sora. "I broke the spine. Sorry. I fixed it."

Sora looked at the fifth book in the Harry Potter series and felt a smile growing on his face. "Thanks, Riku!" he said cheerfully. "Sorry about your face… um, Roxas is sorry too!"

Before Sora could continue with his decidedly and most likely neverending list of apologies Riku spat out, "I'm sorry for yelling and throwing stuff."

Sora blinked a few times, cocked his head to the side in a way that unbearably cute, then smiled all big and wide and nodded his head. "Okay. Then that's that. Can I sleep in the dorm tonight?"

"Uh, yeah."

"And you won't kill me while I'm asleep?"

"Only if you snore," Riku mumbled before standing up. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Oh, I'll come!"

Riku gave Sora an awkwardly amused look. "You're going to come take a nap with me?"

"Yeah! O-oh, I mean…" Sora looked at the tiled floor and kicked his foot at it. "I meant I wanted to take a nap too, so I'll walk with you and sleep in _my bed_ and stuff."

Riku resisted the urge to slap that sweet embarrassed look off Sora's face, then nearly hit himself for thinking about it like that. "Okay, c'mon."

* * *

Axel lit his cigarette in the dark and leaned against the outside of the cafeteria wall. He stuck one thumb into the belt loop of his worn and torn jeans then kicked a scuffed boot heel against the wall. In the distance, across the quad, he could see a group of students tackling each other and drinking.

"Kids," he mumbled as he took a long drag off his cigarette. He blew out smoke rings, a feat that had taken him nearly two years to master. His eyes somehow found their way back to the group of students who were becoming louder and more annoying by the second. Oh, how he wished he could just ZAP! make them disappear.

A smile crept onto his face as he pushed himself off the wall with the back of his arms and dropped his cigarette to the ground. Just as he was about to step on it he noticed someone walking in his general direction. A hand waved and Axel arched a brow, a little curious to the mysterious person approaching him.

"Sora?" he said when Sora stepped into the small patch of moonlight in front of Axel. "What are _you _doing out this late?"

"Hey! You know my name!"

Axel couldn't help but smile at his little secret. "Well yeah, you're Riku's roommate. I know _of_ you and I know that _normally_ you don't go out late or run around with," he waved his hands somewhat frantically, "people who are _drinking_ since it will get you expelled. Got it memorized?"

Sora grinned and nodded. "But _I'm_ not drinking. And those are Roxas's friends. He's sleeping and they were bored so I said that I'd hang out with them. Besides, Riku's sleeping – he's been sleeping _all day ­_– and if I woke him up…" he trailed off and with his finger made a distinct line of death across his neck. "He would definitely kill me."

"So you're hanging out with Hayner and Olette and… what's the other dude?" Axel scratched his head with one hand while he skillfully removed another cigarette from his pack and placed it in his slightly parted mouth. Sora watched him for a moment then shook his head.

"Oh, uh… I don't remember. But he's really good with computers and stuff. He's a graphic design major, like the top student."

"But he's running around with a bottle'a rum like a little kiddie? Good stuffs," Axel said as he lit the cigarette and took a few puffs off it. "So how do you and Riku know each other?"

"We grew up together! Me and him and Kairi have been best friends forever!" he said eagerly, too eagerly. Axel nodded his head slowly eyeing Sora with an indistinguishable look that Sora didn't even notice. "Before we used to kinda fight over Kairi… a long time ago. But I guess we kinda stopped and she got a boyfriend and we're best friends and stuff!"

"Who's her boyfriend?"

Sora giggled and Axel found it slightly revolting but almost adorable. Almost. _Riku wasn't kidding…_ he thought to himself as he frowned and looked up at the perfectly clear sky. "Um, Tidus."

Axel nearly fell on his face as he took a shaky step forward looking back at Sora. "Tidus?!" he practicaly screamed with his arms thrown out to either side of his body. "Oh you have got to be _kidding me!"_

When Sora shook his head no Axel rolled his eyes and stuck his cigarette in his mouth. He made a motion of punching one hand into the other and Sora made the quick assumption that Axel did not like Tidus and wanted to beat him up. Or even quite possibly destroy him. Although he lacked verbal agreement, he was pretty sure of this assumption.

"I really _hate_ that kid!" he said before he took a drag off his cigarette, sans the hands. He blew the smoke out then took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it at a tree. "Ugh… he's almost as bad as Roxas!"

Sora scowled and poked Axel in the chest, then immediately regretted it as Axel's narrowed emerald eyes fell on his own and he quickly took a step back. "Um… Roxas is my friend. One of my _best friends, _so don't be mean to him!" The words were shaky and half-hearted at best, but Axel couldn't help but give Sora mental props for speaking up to him. Literally. Sora was so short that Axel was pretty sure he could sit on his head and not have to stretch.

After the moment of awkward silence and not-so-friendly looks, Sora threw in, "So… _anyway… _You know Riku?"

"Yeah. He tried to get me to join the volleyball team with him but I just don't have the _heart_ for it," he said with a teasing look. "I'm not very good at team sports."

"Why's that?"

Axel shook his head and found himself leaning back against the wall. "Because I am too cool to share a court with anyone else."

"Oh yeah? Well in _my opinion_ you seem a little stuck up." And as the words came out, Sora's ntire world slowed down and his hands were covering his mouth, eyes big and horrified at the most improbable words that had just escaped his now quivering lips. "Oh. Crap."

Axel grinned darkly as he narrowed his eyes and tilted his head up. The moonlight outlined his now twitching eyes and Sora could almost see them turning red. "Oh crap is right," he hissed before standing up straight and folding his arms over his chest. "Yanno, it's too bad I have to _kill you_ because I was just starting to _like you."_

"…Why is it that every time you go out at night you get yourself into trouble Sora?" Sora's eyes brightened as he recognized that voice. Oh yeah, it was Riku. And Riku kicked serious butt especially when Sora got himself into trouble. He turned around and smiled but his smile was quickly disintegrated with just one brief glance from Riku. He had just woken up and there would be hell to pay after Axel was taken care of. Sora swallowed hard and curled his fingers as a partial wave at Riku.

"Aww… I was just about to have some _fun!" _Axel whined as he leaned back and bent his arms at an angle with hands clenched. "C'mon man…"

Riku pulled a very large and very metal bat out of some mysterious bottomless pocket he obviously had and set the top of it on the ground, then leaned forward in an almost seductive way. His eyes met Axel's and there was a moment of friction before the bat was being swung and Axel was dodging with a quick hop-step backward. "I think… that we're done."

Axel stuck his tongue out at Riku and kicked one foot over the other, arms resting behind his head and fingers laced. "Whatever. You don't need to pull out the friggin' _bat, _man. I wasn't _really _gonna hurt him."

Riku arched a brow and threw the bat over his shoulder. "Really. Because for some reason that seems just a _little _out of character for you."

Axel nodded and turned around, heading into the cafeteria to quickly make his way to the East Wing where his dorm was. When Riku turned around he found a half-cowering, half-cheering Sora partially hidden by a palm tree. "Yay!" he cheered meekly from his dark hiding spot. Riku shook his head and began the walk back to their dorm, Sora trailing behind like a lost little puppy.

"I can't believe you saved me!" he said happily as he hopped from one foot to the other as Riku searched for his key to open their door. "I mean, he's so _tall_ and his hair is so _red _and _porcupiney!"_

Riku dropped the keys and stiffled back a laugh. "P-porcupiney? Where did you come up with that?"

"Roxas. We call him the Tall Pansy Man of the Red Porcupine Hair. Or wig. Is that like, all natural?" Sora asked as he bent over to pick up the keys. Riku did the same thing and they smashed heads and both fell backwards onto their rear ends, rubbing their heads in annoyance.

"Watch it!" Riku shouted at Sora just as Sora exclaimed,

"Sorry!"

Riku sighed and looked at Sora through messy silver bangs. "… Uh, it's okay. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Sora asked as he got on all fours and crawled over to Riku. "Your face is red. And it's still kinda puffy from yesterday. I can get you ice!" As Sora went on Riku became frightfully aware that Sora was mere centimeters away and all he had to do was let out the breath he'd been holding and there would be no turning back.

"Hey Riku!" someone shouted from behind. Riku's attention turned to the newcomer and he half turned on his side to get a look. "Uh, you alright there buddy?"

"D-Demyx!" he stuttered as he scrambled to his feet. Sora remained on the floor, now leaning back on his knees instead of being on all fours. "What are you doing here?"

Demyx grinned with eyes that screamed, Oh I am so telling Axel, then handed him a package. "It's all the rules for the tournament. Coach Cid asked me to drop them off for you."

"Isn't Seifer supposed to do that?" he asked with a bitter taste in his mouth. Seifer, his arch rival. Seifer, who stole the Captain's position from him. Seifer, who would soon be dead if Riku had anything to do with it.

"Huh? Oh, no. This is for the club volleyball tournament. Uh, the only group not participating is the DIVGA—"

"DIVGA?" Riku asked with a funny look on his face. "Don't tell me that's—"

"Yeah yeah, Axel calls it DIVGA. Anyway, they're the only ones _not_ participating, so the rest is up to the volleyball team. Just try to match them evenly against each other in the first round. We don't want another slaughter house like last year…" Demyx trailed off and shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going back to bed. I just heard Axel cursing about a stupid gray-haired guy and I figured you'd be up if he was pissed. Man, you're the only one who pisses him off that much." He paused for a second, then added, "Except for Roxas. Man, does he _hate _Roxas. I think. He always talks about him. Anyway, goodnight guys!" With a slight wave of the hand Demyx turned and began his long walk back to his dorm.

"It's silver," Riku mumbled as he stared at the package in his hands. That was, until something warm and soft touched his cheek. He raised his hand to brush it away but found his hand touching Sora's nose. His face went bright red and he quickly turned around to find Sora attempting to look over his shoulder. "Jesus Sora!" he shouted. "Don't _do _that!"

The only thing heard in the hallways was a giggle. An innocent, undeniably cute giggle from the shortest student on campus. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm… going to bed."

"So am I!"

Riku paused and closed his eyes for a second, then shook his head. "You grab the keys. I think I'm going blind due to lack of sleep."

"O-okay." Sora bent down and Riku focused his now open eyes on the 62 printed on their door. A moment later he heard the key in the door and was relieved to be back in his room alone.

No, not alone. Sora was there. He cursed the day he decided to share a room and headed over to his corner where he quickly stripped his shirt and pants to change into his pajamas. "Hey Riku!" Sora said as he hopped over.

_"If you're not wearing any goddamn pants I am going to beat you with the friggin' bat!" _he screached as he grabbed the bat off the floor. He heard Sora halt, take a few steps, obviously put his pants back on, then hop back on over. "What," Riku asked through gritted teeth, "do you want?"

"Um, I need pajama pants."

"Pajama pants? I thought you said you did your laundry this week," he said as he turned around. Sora's eyes dropped to the floor and Riku finished buttoning his blue and white stripped flannel pajamas. "Okay, okay. I'll lend you a pair. But like, safety pin them or something this time. I am so _not _looking forward to you jumping out of bed only to have your pants fall off and you hit your head on the dresser." _For the third time this month, _he thought but kept that to himself.

Sora's eyes lit up in the way a child's does on Christmas morning. "Thanks Riku, you're the best. Man, if you weren't around—"

"Your life would cease to exist because you'd be dead." Riku grabbed a pair of silky blue pajamas out of his dresser and handed them to Sora. "Remember, safety pins. I'm not fond of finding you on the floor with large bumps on your head in your underwear."

"I wear boxers, not underwear," Sora pointed out. "And they have ducks on them. Like Donald. They're cute."

Riku grinned and brushed his hair out of his face. "Yeah, whatever you say. Now go change in your corne—" but he was cut off as Sora's fingers were touching his forehead, on his tiptoes to even reach, with a concerned look on his face. "S-Sora?"

"I was just making sure you didn't break your pr—face. Yep. You're okay. I don't think that there will be any permanent damage, Mr. Riku." He smiled and cocked his head to the side. "Goodnight, Riku."

Riku turned around, crawled into his bed, and grabbed a pillow to hug. "Goodnight, Sora."

* * *

A.N.: Ah, my first KH fanfic. It's a beautiful thing . Please review, I love reviews. Btw thanks to Maur and Taylor for getting me hooked on these pairings because of Crickets. 

Check out The Cricket Revolution by Hanitachan here on ff dot net. It will rock your world. It rocked mine XD


	2. There's a time and a place

**Campus Club Crusaders!**

**_

* * *

Chapter Two  
There's a time and a place for these things

* * *

_**

Roxas grabbed Sora's hand and dragged him down the beach till they were at the water's edge. They both jumped up and down somewhat mindlessly as they watched the water almost touch their toes then run away. "Ooh, it's scared of us!" Sora all but yipped. "Hah!"

Riku watched them from a safe distance away, near the volleyball nets. He sat down on the sand and pulled one knee up to his chest and let the other stretch out as Roxas and Sora hopped into the water, then out, then in again all giggles and squeals.

"Hey! You're gonna get me wet!" Roxas shouted as Sora kicked water at him. Roxas ran out of the water and waggled his pointer finger in Sora's direction. "And you're gonna get all wet too if you keep doing that!"

Sora stopped hopping around in the water and thought about what Roxas had said as though it didn't quite make sense. He nodded his head finally and ran out of the water to where Roxas was standing and grinned. "Okay, let's make Riku hold our stuff!"

"Good idea!"

"Who said I was your freaking chaperone?!" Riku shouted as he used one hand to shield his eyes from the too bright sun. "For the love of…" he trailed off and shook his head, leaning back a little and using his hands to prop himself up. The sand was gritty but felt good against his rough and callused hands. "It's like they're friggin' _five," _he muttered to himself.

Sora and Roxas ran over and in two seconds Roxas's shirt was off and in Riku's lap. Then there was a wallet and a keychain and a few nickels and pennies and a few things Riku wasn't quite sure of. "Okay, thanks Riku!" he said with a wave as he ran back to the water and dove in.

"Wow. That was quick."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious Sora."

Sora smiled with his eyes closed, halfway turned toward Riku, and put his hand against the back of his head. Opening his eyes he responded, "If there's just one thing I'm good at, it's that!"

"You gonna go play in the water with your little friend?" Riku asked arching a brow. Sora nodded. "Okay then, gimme your stuff."

"Okay! Thanks!" Sora said as he hurriedly tried to pull his shirt off. It wasn't a particularly bright idea and Riku knew what was coming before it happened. He raised his arms to protect himself as Sora spun around, shirt halfway over his head – obviously forgetting that the straps on his pants connected with his shirt – and stumbled to the left, then to the right, then nearly onto Riku's crotch before landing in his lap.

"Shit Sora!" he screeched as he opened his unknowingly closed eyes. Sora's arms were more than a little tangled in his shirt and he mumbled a sorry as he fidgeted in Riku's lap.

"Something's… poking my butt!" he whined. Riku tried not to laugh as he moved his legs to accommodate Sora. "Get it out!"

"It's probably Roxas's wallet, Sora. Why don't you stop moving so I can untangle you?"

Sora stopped moving but continued to whine. "That hurt, why didn't you tell me that I… uh… Well, why didn't you tell me?!"

"Tell you what?" Riku asked as he unhooked Sora's pants from his shirt. "That you're an idiot and a klutz and you were going to fall on top of me?" His hands moved up Sora's back to his arms where he took one slim wrist gently into his hand and grabbed the shirt sleeve with the other.

"Yeah!"

"Because you wouldn't have listened to me anyway. That's why." One arm was free. Sora let his arm fall against Riku's thigh and Riku almost jumped then hurriedly spit out, "Anyway, it's kinda funny. Yanno, seeing you get stuck in your shirt and stumble around like a crazy person?" Riku grabbed the other arm and carefully yanked it free of the shirt, then pulled the shirt up over Sora's head. Sora's eyes were closed but as the shirt came off they opened and he gave Riku a heartwarming smile. "Better?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Uh huh! Hey, I'm gonna go swimming now. Don't lose my stuff, okay?"

"I'll try _really hard_ not to."

"Riku!" Sora slapped his open hand into the sand. Riku tried to ignore Sora's hand that was still resting on his thigh. "Promise!"

Riku nodded, face beginning to turn pink. "Yeah yeah yeah, I promise. Just go, play. Whatever. Bye bye."

Sora jumped up and patted Riku's head, then turned and ran to Roxas to tackle him into the water. Riku watched with a slight frown before pushing away his awkward and unnecesary thoughts. He sighed and shook his head, then folded both boys' clothes and set them on top of the towel he had brought but forgotten to use.

"So are you babysitting?"

Riku didn't bother to turn around. He knew that voice, and he knew that in a second Axel would be grabbing his shoulders and leaning in too close for comfort to make some snide remark about Roxas.

"No. Just enjoying the sun."

Axel did none of the above and sat down next to Riku in the sand, legs spread out butterfly style. He pulled up the legs of his ratty jeans to his knees then looked at Riku. "So what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean," _he said as he cracked his neck to the left then the right, "what's up with you and Sora?"

Riku turned to look at Axel and gave him a funny look. "What?"

"Demyx came back last night and was making fun of you. Something about Sora's being on the floor with you…" Axel couldn't keep a straight face and burst into a fit of laughter. "Okay, okay. I'm just teasing. But Demyx said it was rather… _erotic."_

Riku punched Axel in the shoulder. "Oh shove it!"

"What? He really said that!"

"Uh huh. So what're _you _doing out here? You _hate_ the sun." He paused, then added, "And yet you live on a freaking island. Go figure."

Axel laid back in the sand but continued to face Riku. "I thought I'd come hang out with you. Is that such a crime?" He made a pouty face and Riku couldn't help but smile. "At least I got a goddamned _smile_ out of you. You've been kinda funny recently…"

"Yeah?"

"Yep. You're way more irritated than usual… and the whole thing with that stupid _bat, _man. Sheesh… Where do you _keep _that thing?"

Riku gave Axel a toothy smile. "Oh, wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

Axel play gagged. "Nevermind. Just forget I even asked."

"You sure? 'Cause yanno… I could…"he trailed off and leaned in toward Axel just enough to make Axel's eyes nearly fall out of his head, _"show_ you… If you wanted."

"Oh stop! I think I'm gonna barf!" Axel said as he rolled away from Riku onto his stomach. "Man, it's a little creepy you're so _good_ at that."

"Good at what?"

"Being like… yanno… _gay."_

Riku rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with being gay, Axel. It's not like everyone who's gay is in love with _you."_

Axel pouted with his eyes. "Hey, you don't know that!"

Riku coughed awkwardly. "Oh yes, I do."

"Take it back!"

"No." That one word oozed with attitude. "Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Axel jumped up and threw himself in front of Riku, bent down, grabbed Riku by the shoulders… and blew him a raspberry. He ran away toward the beach as Riku wiped the spit off his face then chased after him. "I am going to _kill you_ for that!" he shouted as he caught up with Axel even with the obvious height difference.

He dove and tackled Axel to the ground but Axel was quicker and threw him back over. They continued like that until they ended up in the water with Riku straddling Axel holding his head under the water.

"Blrpp…. Brr… bllrp!" Axel shouted under the water.

_"You are so dead!" _Riku shrieked. Sora and Roxas ran over and Sora grabbed Riku's arms while Roxas grabbed Axel's that were flailing above the water and pulled them away from each other.

"You almost killed me!"

"You deserved it!"

Axel tried to get free of Roxas but Roxas wasn't budging. "Lemme go! I'm gonna show _him_ what it's like to get half drowned! Ooh, I swear Riku!"

"You think you're _so_ much better than everyone!" Riku shouted back as Sora struggled to hold him back. "But you're just a stupid fire crotch!"

"Hey! I _hate_ that name!" Axel shouted. "And I am not!"

Riku blinked as his eyes looked away for a moment. "Uh, yeah… you are. You're a natural redhead."

Roxas tried not to laugh. "Fire… crotch?" He giggled and Axel turned around and gave him a dirty look. "What? It's _funny."_

And then Axel grabbed Roxas by the hair and yanked it down so hard that his head went fully under the water. Sora and Riku looked at each other, then ran over as quickly as possible. Riku tackled Axel into the water while Sora picked Roxas up. Roxas spit out a mouthful of seawater and nearly cried at the salty taste in his mouth.

"That is _nothing_ like sea salt ice cream!" he shouted as water dripped down his face. "Yuck!"

"Shit Axel!" Riku said as he let Axel go. "He's a lot smaller than you! You could'a killed him!"

Axel gave Riku a dirty look. "That," he spat as he tried to fix his ruined hair, "was the goddamn _idea!"_

Roxas looked over at Axel and stared. Axel's hair glimmered with the late afternoon sun and his black tee shirt stuck tightly to his slim body. He pulled the shirt up over his head and wrung it out in his hands while he yelled at Riku some more. There was something about the way that he moved that Roxas suddenly couldn't look away from. Sora's eyes followed Roxas's line of sight and he arched a brow.

"Um… whatcha staring at?"

Roxas blinked rapidly then looked back at Sora. "Nothing."

"Yeah…?"

"Yeah…"

"Are you okay? I think you swallowed too much salt water. Want me to take you inside? You can come to my room and change. We can watch the Harry Potter movies together!"

Roxas nodded and the two slowly trudged up the beach, first grabbing their things, then disappeared over the hill toward the school. Meanwhile, Axel was still yelling at Riku while Riku gave him a bored stare.

"That guy is such a pansy ass! I mean shit, he's like five feet tall and has hair he never combs and acts like such a little girl and he drives me nuts and he wouldn't even share the projector room and he's an anime nerd and they're stupid and—"

"Are you done yet? 'Cause at some point I'm pretty sure you need to breathe. Maybe." Axel took a deep breath, then threw his shirt at Riku. "Good. Why don't we go up to my room and relax? I'm sure that Sora and Roxas didn't go there…" he trailed off and smirked. "They probably went to Roxas's room to watch anime or something."

"Man, I friggin' _hate_ anime!"

* * *

"Okay, which movie do you wanna watch?" Sora asked as he held up the four Harry Potter movies. "I have the collector's edition of the first, second, and fourth movies. The third is just a loaner since Riku _accidentally,"_ Sora rolled his eyes as he put the movies down to make quotation marks with his fingers, "stepped on my disc. What do you feel like?" 

Roxas shrugged as he searched through Sora's drawers for a pair of pants and a shirt. "Hey… do you have any underwear I can borrow?"

"First," Sora said holding one finger up, "I don't wear underwear."

"Oh _ewww _Sora!"

"Hey! I wear _boxers. Hello!"_

"Oh. Well, do you have any that I can like, have? I mean, new ones."

"In the top drawer. There's a pack I haven't opened. But you owe me new ones. Those ones have little chickens on them!"

Roxas laughed uneasily as he opened the pack and took out a pair of boxers. "Umm… _yeah!_ They're uh… great…" He quickly found a pair of jeans and a kelly green henley and turned back to Sora. "Hey, turn around. I'm gonna change!"

"Okay, but don't turn around until _I'm_ done then 'cause I'm gonna change too. Oh! Hold on, I'm gonna stick in the movie. We'll watch the fourth one because I love it!"

Roxas couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Just like you love the _other three?"_

"Well yeah!" Sora said, oblivious to Roxas's obvious sarcasm. Somewhere between sticking a movie in and changing Roxas wondered if Sora was actually completely naïve to the whole world or if he was just playing dumb so that one day he could conquer the world and no one would know what hit them. The thought of Sora standing on top of the world dressed in black while cackling amused Roxas quite a bit and he began to laugh to himself quietly as he stripped himself and pulled on his boxers.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked, half glancing over his shoulder. "Is there something on my butt?"

"Man, I don't _care _or _want to know_ if there is something on your butt. I just thought about something funny, that's all."

"Oh." Sora pulled on his cute new boxers and wiggled his toes happily. "I love chickens. They're so cute." He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips triumphantly as though he had done something extraordinary. "And they were even on sale for only five dollars!"

"… play a video game or—what the hell?" Riku shouted as he walked through the door with Axel. Roxas looked up from pulling on one pant leg while Sora turned around quickly, hands still on his hips with a triumphant look on his face, and stared.

"Crap!" Roxas yelped as he fell backwards and almost rolled into Sora who jumped backwards into the desk and knocked over all of Riku's video games. However, it wasn't just a stack that fell over; oh no, it was like a horrible game of dominoes. First went the PlayStation 2 games, followed by the Xbox 360 games, and finally Riku's opened half-filled bottle of water that obviously and _deliberately_ fell onto Roxas's head and soaked his hair for the second time that day.

Axel just stared as the water dripped down Roxas's face onto his bare chest and finally landed in his little bellybutton. "… Whoa."

Riku jabbed Axel in the side. "Shut. Up."

"What? Well first of all, they almost look like twins standing like that with all that wet ridiculous hair that _never gets combed, _plus those stupid boxers. What were you two _thinking? _Did you like, go shopping together? Anyway, whatever. That whole thing was like… practically _staged._ And just a little awesome. Well, more than just a little awesome." Axel was still staring at Roxas. "Sucks to be you."

"Sucks to be you," Roxas mocked.

"Hey, watch your mouth," Axel groaned as he took a step forward and held up a tightly clenched fist. "Do you _want_ to die?"

Roxas wiped the water out of his eyes and sat up straight, legs crossed, and looked up at Axel with his hands in his lap. "No thank you, Mr. Porcupine Head!"

"W-what did you just say?!" Axel shouted as he stomped his foot on the floor. "Ooh, you are gonna get it!"

"Shut up!" Riku shouted as he grabbed Axel's head and pushed him back behind himself. "Jeez Axel. Can it!"

"Whatever," Axel mumbled as he leaned against the bookstand.

"Sora, what the _hell _are you doing in here?"

"We were gonna watch Harry Potter."

"In… uh, chicken boxers?"

"No! We were changing!"

Riku tried not to laugh. "Into… chicken boxers?"

"Riku!"

"What? It's _funny," _he mocked as he glanced at Roxas. "I guess we'll go back to Axel's room before… well, yanno. I'll see you later, okay?"

Sora nodded as he looked at the floor and poked his toe in the puddle of water around Roxas. "Um, do you wanna get dinner with us later?"

"I'm not really hungry."

"Well, I said _later. _Like when you _are_ hungry?" Sora looked up with twinkling eyes that screamed, Oh pretty please Riku?

Riku thought for a moment, hand resting on Axel's shoulder in a partial attempt to push him out the door. "Uh, maybe. I'll be back later. But don't wait up okay?"

Sora nodded and waved as they left. He sighed and kicked Roxas with his foot. "I can't believe you mocked Axel! He was going to _kill you_ already!"

Roxas laughed as he stood up. He stretched before turning around to look at Sora. "You know what? I don't care! I am _so cool, _got it _memorized?"_

They both laughed and finally managed to change and sit down to watch Harry Potter.

* * *

"Hey, did you want to find Sora for dinner?" Axel asked as he grabbed a rather grungy looking hoodie off his bedpost. "It's like, almost eight. The cafeteria's gonna close." 

Riku shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'm really not hungry."

"Man, I don't even think you've eaten today. Are you sure? I mean, just put something in your mouth and swallow. Not that hard, eh?" Axel grinned and play punched Riku in the arm. "C'mon. Let's get some grub."

Another shake of the head. "I'm just gonna go to bed. I have an early class tomorrow."

Axel arched a brow. "Oh yeah? Are you gonna stay in your dorm tonight?"

"Why?"

Axel sighed and clapsed one hand tightly on Riku's shoulder, half leaning on him closer than Riku liked. "I know your secret."

"What secret?" Riku was amused as he removed Axel's arm from his shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I _mean_ that I know you've been going to the library all late at night and falling asleep there sometimes. Sora's kinda dumb, so I guess he figures you just leave early for class?"

Riku coughed. "Uh, Sora's classes don't start until noon. He's not even _awake _until 11:50."

Axel grinned and propped himself against the wall. "Yeah? Sounds like him. He's funny. I like him."

"Yeah… me too…" Riku trailed off and Axel gave him a strange look. As Axel opened his mouth to comment Riku rushed, "But I've gotta get going. Good night!" He nearly sprinted out of Axel's dorm to the library where he decided to pause and catch his breath. It was then that he came to the unfortunate realization that he had forgotten his College Algebra and Geometry books in Axel's dorm.

He sighed and sat down on a bench, contemplating his next move. In the distance he could see a group of students partying on the beach. A moment later a flame flew into the sky and they all cheered, excited for the bonfire. He searched his pocket for a phone, hoping Axel might answer and wait for him to grab his books, but discovered he had also left that in Axel's room. He cursed under his breath and rested both arms behind his head.

"… Don't you have _any_ friends?"

Riku gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. _Don't look, if you don't move he won't be able to see you. He'll just disappear…_

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

Riku looked up and found a scantilly clad Seifer holding a volleyball in one hand and a twenty-four pack of beer in the other. He had an amused look on his face as he leaned forward toward Riku and grinned. Riku resisted the sudden urge to bite his head off and steal his beer. And the volleyball. _I wouldn't need it, I could use just use his head…_

"You know, it's _rude_ to ignore people, especially your _Captain," _Seifer said with a sneer. "You should learn some respect."

_One more word and I swear…_ Riku bit his lip to try and contain his temper. Not that that would work, because it never did. However, it _did_ give Riku the impression that he at least _tried_ to stop himself. Again, that also never happened.

"Aww, poor Riku. He lost Captain and now he's going to cry," Seifer joked as he tossed the volleyball from one hand to the other. "Poor wittle _baby!"_

It was then that Riku's eyes snapped open and he gave Seifer the dirtiest, angriest look imaginable. His mouth twisted into a smile lit only by the flickering street lamp. His teeth looked sharper and Seifer leaned back just enough that Riku didn't notice. "Yeah, poor me. Boo _fucking_ hoo. You wanna start something?" He stood up and smacked the volleyball out of Seifer's hand. "Do you _really _wanna start something, _Captain?"_

Seifer could smell Riku's minty fresh breath as Riku leaned in as close as he could to Seifer. The small twitch at the corner of Riku's right eye grew larger as he pulled his bat out. "Wanna play ball?" he asked before smashing his bat against the pavement. Seifer pushed Riku back with his free hand and spat,

"Watch it or you'll be off the team, Riku. Remember, I choose the players, and I choose who _plays."_

"Not," Riku said, drawing the word out as he drug his bat behind him across the pavement toward Seifer, "if you're _dead."_

"Dead as in uh… alive!" Axel shouted as he bolted toward Riku, attempting to juggle a white styrofoam box and a stack of books. Riku's eyes flashed to his left as Axel nearly ran into him to put his body between Riku's bat and Seifer. "Yeah! Uh, 'sup Seifer!" he said chipperly – too chipperly – to Seifer. Seifer eyed Axel for a moment before turning around and muttering a slur of obscenities under his breath and leaving.

"See ya later!" Riku said with a smirk before turning to Axel and smacking him in the side of the head.

"Oww, what the hell was that for?" he asked as the books finally toppled out of his arms and onto the ground. The box, thankfully, was saved and Axel ignored the books as he went to sit on the bench with his precious dinner. He opened it and stuffed half a sandwich into his mouth as Riku picked up his belongings.

"That was for getting here too late," Riku said as he plopped himself down on the bench next to Axel.

Axel sighed and rubbed the side of his head while he attempted to swallow the too big half a sandwich he had shoved into his mouth a second earlier. Realizing that it wasn't going down he tried to cough but there was so much food in his mouth he couldn't even do that. Riku looked at Axel and half-smiled, then slapped him on the back a few times. Thankfully the food was dislodged and went down smoothly and Axel was able to retort,

"I made an emergency pit stop at the cafeteria!"

"Your emergency pit stop just cost me my position on the team."

Axel rolled his eyes and barely managed to stop himself from slapping Riku. "You did that on your own man. I only came here to do damage control. Which is what I did, so be thankful. And by the way, this sandwich rocks. Got it memorized?"

Riku sighed and turned his head away from Axel to stare at the steps leading up to the library. He wondered what Sora was doing, then pushed the thought out of his mind as he remembered his schoolwork. Math was not exactly his best subject, honors courses at that, and he resented enrolling in the two classes in addition to his two philosophy courses, English Composition II, and General Psychology. Throw in the volleyball team commitment and he was swamped.

"Hey, you okay?" Axel asked as he tapped Riku's leg with his knee. "You're a little quiet, even for you." He laughed and Riku sighed. "… Riku?" This time Axel's voice was concerned, even as he munched on his sandwich. "Do you wanna… talk?"

"Talk? With you? Whatever." Riku stood up and walked up the steps to the library leaving Axel alone with the remnants of his sandwich. Axel frowned as he watched Riku walk away and felt a slight pang of annoyance at his best friend but decided the best thing to do was leave him alone. Following him into the library just didn't seem like a smart idea, so instead he decided to see what Sora was up to. At least Sora didn't yell at him.

"That's 'cause Sora's nice," he said aloud before he threw the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and stood up. He was suddenly faced with either finding a trash can or leaving his now empty box on the bench. Axel debated silently, then picked up the box and figured he'd do the environment a favor this time.

After finding a trash can halfway to the dorms he mozied over to a small group of students shouting and chasing after each other in the quad. He noticed two of them – Olette and Naminé – who were in the photo club and also the only ones without a bottle in their hands. He walked over to Naminé because Demyx had introduced them at lunch one day.

"Hey," he said as he squeezed into the circle of students. Naminé looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh hi, Axel. What are you doing out?"

"I should be asking you the same question," he muttered as one student tripped over a bush and landed on his face. "Uh, what're you guys up to?" He pulled a cigarette out and lit it as Naminé replied,

"It's Roxas's birthday tomorrow so we're all having a mini party. The real party's this weekend. He's turning nineteen!"

Axel groaned. "Oh, so _he's _here?"

Naminé blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"Then I'll probably be on my way," Axel said as he raised his hand in a two-fingered good-bye. "Have fun."

Disappointed that he couldn't join in the festivities because of undying hate for Roxas, Axel found a spot not too far away and sat down in the grass to enjoy his cigarette. Just as he was getting comfortable with his legs stretched out in a v-shape and one hand behind him to support his body, he heard a voice call out his name. Lazily, he turned his head back just enough to look.

"R-Roxas?" he stuttered as Roxas walked over to him. "What do _you_ want?"

"Nothing." Roxas sat down next to Axel and remained silent. Axel looked over at Roxas's group of friends, then looked back at Roxas. Roxas ignored him and continued to stare at the ground while he pulled pieces of innocent grass out of it.

"Uh…" Axel searched for something decent to say that didn't involve Roxas's death or imminent demise, then settled for, "Happy early birthday." It was the best he could come up with on short notice, and talking with Roxas most definitely required notice. Usually two or three days in advance, at least.

Roxas looked up then and smiled sadly at Axel. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Dude, what's your problem? You're kinda… sad?" Axel kicked himself in the head for asking because that always meant he'd get an answer and then he'd actually have to stay and listen because that's what nice people did. Wait… he wasn't nice, so why did he feel like he had to stay?

"Nothing. It's just a bad night, that's all."

"Uh huh. Why's that?"

Roxas smiled a little. "Oh, no reason."

Axel rolled his eyes and took a drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Roxas. "Tell me about it. Riku's in one of _those moods_ and I've got nothing to do."

"Oh yeah?" Roxas seemed to perk up. "Did he use the bat?"

"Man, it was ridiculous! Him and Seifer—" Axel stopped abruptly mid-sentence. "Wait, are we actually having a _real_ conversation?"

Roxas half-smiled and nodded. "Maybe it's just the new moon. It makes people do weird things."

Axel arched a brow. "The new moon? Isn't it supposed to be the _full_ moon?"

Roxas shrugged. "Fine. It's your birthday present to me. One decent conversation before we go back to destroying each other's lives tomorrow. Is that alright with you, Axel?"

"I… guess so. Anyway, Seifer's totally got it out for Riku and they were about to get into it when I stepped in and Riku was _totally _going to beat the living shit out of that asshole with his bat but…" Axel trailed off and smiled sweetly at Roxas. "You get this one conversation to keep before I kill you. It seems a little bit wasted to talk about Riku."

Roxas looked down at the grass, head pointed away from Axel. Axel wondered if he actually saw a blush but figured he didn't since that wouldn't make any damn sense at all. Why would Roxas blush?

"Um, well Sora and I watched Harry Potter. It was boring, but he really likes Harry Potter so I stayed and watched it. Then we waited for Riku to come back, but he didn't so I grabbed dinner by myself while he stayed in the room and probably watched more Harry Potter. That book's going to come out soon… He's going to go nuts, and Riku is too. He won't stop talking about it. Maybe that's why he doesn't come back at night anymore. Sora always wonders where he's going but he doesn't say anything and I figure it's 'cause Sora watches Harry Potter _every night_ like he doesn't _own_ all the movies." Roxas said all this while staring at the ground. Axel nudged him with his shoulder and Roxas's eyes looked over at him through unruly bangs. "Yeah?"

"What's so interesting about the damn grass? Youv'e pulled out half the quad already man."

Roxas looked back down and saw his mess of grass and in a moment of utter stupidity threw the grass in front of him. It was at that moment that the wind blew and all the grass flew into Axel's face which then forced him to raise his hands in defense. When that didn't work his cigarette fell out of his mouth into his lap where Roxas found it priority to stick his hand and grab at it. He managed to get the cigarette before it burned Axel, but the look on Axel's face was a mix of annoyance, anger, and amusement.

"Um… here?" Roxas offered meekly as he handed Axel the cigarette back. "Sorry."

And then Axel laughed. He took a drag off his cigarette, blew out the smoke, and laughed. "Roxas, you've got a death wish. I mean, a real goddamned _death wish_ sticking your hands in my lap. But thanks for saving my cigarette. If it wasn't your birthday, you'd be dead. So appreciate it. Got it memorized?"

Roxas nodded studiously. "Yes sir!"

Axel laughed again. "Am I that scary?"

"Yep."

"I am?" Axel cocked his head and gave Roxas a curious look. "How that?"

"Uh, you hurt people. So you're scary. And tall. And your hair is scary too. It looks ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? What's wrong with my hair?" Axel wrinkled his nose as he patted the top of his head to make sure every spike was in place. "My hair rocks. It's yours that sucks."

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's stupid, that's what."

"Hey!" Roxas shoved Axel and Axel snorted.

"Oh, bad idea kiddo." Then Axel threw his cigarette over his shoulder and got up on one knee to grab Roxas's arm, pull it behind his back, and wrap the other arm around his neck in a choke hold. "So whose hair is stupid?"

"Mine!" Roxas squeaked. Axel let Roxas go and laid back in the grass behind him.

"Yeah, I thought so. Dumbass."

Roxas leaned his head down and stared at the hole of dirt where there was once grass. "Hey… Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you hate me?"

"Well that's a weird question. Why does it matter?"

Roxas was silent.

"Listen, it's just how things are. Why do you care? You don't like me either, man."

"I… uh, know."

"So? What's the deal then? Is that why you're all pouty when tomorrow's your birthday?" Axel laughed. "Because that's a pretty stupid reason to be sad."

Roxas sighed heavily and kicked his feet out and wiggled his toes in his shoes. "Yeah. You're right."

"Of course I am. I'm always right."

"Uh huh…" Roxas trailed off and bit his lip, wondering what Axel was doing behind him. He wasn't about to turn around though, because it could be the end of his life. Axel was fickle, like the wind, and Roxas knew that the smallest thing could quite possibly be the end of his life. But he always wondered…

"Again with the silence. Like I said, you get this one conversation. Better make the best of it." Axel poked Roxas in the back with his elbow. "Cheer up. I won't kill you tonight."

Roxas turned around and just as he was about to kick Axel in the side he stopped. Axel's pants hung too low on his already small wasit and curby hips, and his shirt was too short, exposing half his torso. Roxas wondered how Axel could be so small and yet so intimidating and cocked his head to the side to stare some more.

"Uh, something wrong there?" Axel asked as he put his hands behind his head and bent one knee halfway up. "Did I get dirt on me?"

"No."

"Then why are you staring?"

"N-no reason."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Okay. You're weird."

"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas continued to stare and noticed that the right side of Axel's hips jutted out more than the left one. Or maybe it was the lighting. Or the way he was sitting. "Your hip bone looks funny," he decided to point out.

"Does it?" Axel sat up halfway and lifted his shirt up more. His stomach tightened as he did so and Roxas's breath caught in his throat and he coughed. Axel glanced at him and frowned. "What? You okay?" Roxas nodded. "Where does it look funny?"

"There…" Roxas pointed but kept his finger firmly within the invisible bubble that surrounded him. "On the right side."

"What? What are you talking about?" Axel used his left hand to keep his shirt raised while the right one ran down his stomach to his hip bone. "I don't see it." He turned at his waist to face Roxas and spat, "Okay, show me. What the hell are you talking about, because I'm pretty sure that my body is perfect and you're just imagining things."

At no point did it hit Axel that it was a little odd, even for Roxas, to notice something as miniscule as a difference between his hip bones. "T-there," Roxas said as he pointed, a little bit closer this time, at Axel's hip.

"Okay, I said _show me," _Axel said as he grabbed Roxas's finger and pulled his hand out nearly forcing him to touch his hip. "Where?"

Roxas's hand trembled as he finally pointed to where the bone was higher on the right side and realized he was leaning over Axel. A single wrong move and he could die. In addition to that, Axel was still not seeing what he was talking about. Roxas pouted and finally put one finger on the right side of Axel's hip and then used his other hand to put it on the left side of his hip. "The right side is higher!" he all but shouted. "Okay?!"

Axel stared for a moment and Roxas pulled his hands away, placing them into his lap. "Oh, whoa. They are. Damn."

_"That's what I just told you!" _Roxas shouted at the top of his lungs. "Don't you ever listen?"

"Uh… chill."

Roxas's breathing was labored as he shook his head and stared at his shoes. "I pointed it out like, a million times."

"I know. Sorry. Just chill. Jeez." Axel laid back down but as he did so he shot his arm out to knock Roxas down as well. "Tomorrow's your birthday, and birthday's are supposed to be happy. It may seem weird coming from me, but everyone should have a happy birthday. Even weirdos like you. So we're going to just lay here until we see a shooting star and you can make a wish and then I can call that my good deed for the year and go to bed. Alright?"

Roxas didn't say anything.

"Whatever. Go if you want. I want to see a friggin' shooting star tonight. It's the best time when there's no moon because it lights up the whole sky."

"… That's a little poetic, especially coming from you," Roxas said quietly.

"You think?"

"Yeah."

Axel grinned in the dark. "I like astronomy. Sometimes I wonder if each star out there is just another world we haven't discovered. Like maybe, somewhere out there… people are wondering if we exist. Maybe we don't really." He laughed and wiggled in the grass. "I should stop reading Riku's philosophy texts. They make me think and stuff, yanno?"

"Yeah…"

They laid in silence for a while, staring up at the stars until they finally saw a shooting star. Just as Axel had said it lit up the entire sky and Roxas pointed up excitedly. "Hey! A shooting star!"

"Well? Make a wish!" Axel sat up and looked down at Roxas with a little smile playing on his lips. "Make it count, and don't tell anyone. And close your eyes. You're supposed to close your eyes."

Roxas smiled wide and closed his eyes. "You sound like Sora, with all your little rules and details. It's cute."

Axel's face was indistinguishable as the words echoed in his head. Roxas opened his eyes and nodded. "Okay, I made my wish. Make yours."

"Uh… okay?" Axel closed his eyes and he could hear Roxas sit up. "Hmm… what do I want…" After a few moments he clicked his tongue and nodded, then opened his eyes. "Okay. We've made our wishes. Goodnight." He stood up and walked away from Roxas, the comment still whispering inside his head.

_Don't turn around,_ he thought as he pushed open the door to the East Wing. He turned his head and saw Roxas sitting in the grass, arms stretching over his head, and smiled.

"Goodnight!" Roxas called as he waved his hands happily. "And thanks for the wish!"

Axel nodded. "You're… welcome."

* * *

A.N.: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! This is for all of you, so please review again and let me know how this chapter went! I have noticed... that I'm on some favorite lists and story alerts... but those people haven't reviewed yet. So please do! I love feedback! 

Oh, one more thing! While you wait for the next chapter of _this_ to be posted, I have another KH2 fic, called **Cerulean's Just Another Word for Blue** that you should check out!! Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed!!


	3. Cocktails and butterflies

_This time my A.N. will be at the beginning because I have some very special people to thank! First and foremost my beta, 1/2 of **Hanitachan**, for taking time out from **The Cricket Revolution** and **DIPS** for me and, in addition to doing beta work, listening me to read _everything _out loud so I could edit my fics myself!! You rock babe, we're gonna party it up this weekend!!_

_To **Terranei Parker**, who has been a fan from the very beginning and taken the time out to also read **Cerulean's Just Another Word for Blue **and being kind enough to review and favorite and alert my stories._

_By the way, to all of you who haven't read my other fics and reviewed them, you better!_

_Finally to **Beutelmaus**, who has actually read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted on every single one of my Kingdom Hearts fanfics. Wow. Amazing. AkuRoku forever, baby! She is also my official beta #2, betaing all the way from friggin' Austria. Really, it's just an excuse to read stories early... but what the hell XD_

_To all those who have reviewed, I haven't forgotten you yet! **Tysonkaiexperiment, B4U, Dark Firesong, paris train, Katraa, Sweet Little Bumblebee '-', Tavi, lunarxshinobi, The Seventh Legend, and It's Beyond Over** : I love you guys for taking the time out to review and know that your support is so greatly appreciated! This story would be nothing without you guys there, so keep on reading, reviewing, and rocking my world ._

_I've made this chapter extra tasty and extra long, clocking in at just over 7600 words I believe... So on with the show!!_

**Campus Club Crusaders!**

* * *

_**Chapter Three  
Cocktails and butterflies**_

* * *

Axel heard a phone ringing, but it definitely wasn't a ringer on his phone. He dug around in his pocket as Demyx shouted, "Turn that thing off! _I _don't have class for another two hours!" 

Axel found two phones in his pocket, one of which was vibrating. He looked at his clock and discovered that it was only seven o'clock in the morning. "Oh shit," he cursed as he realized the phone in his hand was Riku's. "He's gotta get to class!"

It took all of two seconds for Axel to fix his hair and throw on a shirt before slipping his feet into his black chucks and bolting out the door. He figured he must have forgotten to give Riku his phone last night, and if he didn't get Riku to class on time there would be more than just hell to pay. He made his way to the library, almost detouring to grab breakfast since he was up for the day, but made the smart choice and kept on running.

The library came into view but Axel didn't slow his pace. He ran up the steps, into the building, and headed for the second floor where Riku tended to fall asleep. As usual, Riku had his head resting on an open math book, snoring away. Axel threw the phone at Riku's head and shouted, "Get up! You're late for class!"

Riku's eyes fluttered open, pretty blue green eyes falling on Axel. "What?"

"I fo—_You_ forgot your phone last night and it woke me up this morning! C'mon man, you've got class!"

"… Axel…"

"What?!"

"It's Friday. I don't _have_ class."

"O-oh. I thought you did…"

Riku sat up to stretch and yawn. "Nope. But while you're here, wanna get something to eat?"

"Where at?"

Riku grinned. "The café, down the street. And it's your treat for waking me up. Alrighty?"

Axel groaned and threw out his arms to either side of his body, palms up. _"Whatever._ Get your dumbass up and let's go. I'm fucking _starving."_

They decided to go to Riku's room first to drop off his books where a very tired Sora was sitting at Riku's laptop. He looked up when Riku and Axel walked in, eyes droopy with a tad bit of drool at the corner of his mouth. "Oh, morning," he mumbled with an exhausted yawn.

"Why are you still up?" Riku asked as he walked over to Sora and set his books down on the desk. "Were you up all night?"

"Yep. It's Roxas's birthday today."

"Oh yeah. He told me last night." Both Sora and Riku stared at Axel with surprised looks. "What? I gave him a present. I didn't _kill _him."

"That's… really weird," Riku pointed out. He turned his attention back to Sora and set his hand on the back of the swivel chair. "Uh, we're gonna get breakfast. Axel's paying. Do you want to come?" But by the time he had finished the question Sora's eyes had already shut and he was gone.

Riku grinned and shook his head. He slipped one hand under Sora's arm and carefully lifted him out of the chair and set him on his bed. After pulling up the covers and tucking Sora in Riku turned around and nodded at Axel, but Axel seemed to be off in some distant land Riku couldn't infiltrate.

"Ready?" Axel asked half-mindedly as he tried to ignore the blueberry muffin sitting on Sora's nightstand. "Because I'm about to raid your room for food, man."

"Yeah, let's go."

They headed down the street to the Palms Café where they managed to snag the last open booth. "It's busy today," Axel pointed out as he kicked his feet up onto the table. Riku gave Axel a look and the feet came down. "Whatever man. So, what do you feel like getting?"

"An omlette. And those little fried potato thingies."

"What, hash browns?"

"No, the other things. They're like, little potato sliced things."

Axel grinned as he wondered if Riku was still half asleep if he couldn't even remember the name of the food he wanted. "What, like potato wedges?"

"No, they're in like, uh, cubes or something. They're really good."

Axel shrugged. "I dunno, but I need some goddamned coffee and pancakes. With lots of powdered sugar. And milk. I like milk."

"How are you doing this morning?" Axel and Riku looked up to find an almost maidly dressed Selphie smiling at them. "What'll it be?"

"'Sup Selphie," Axel said in a two-fingered greeting. "Uh, I'll have a cup of coffee, black, and pancakes with lots of sugar…" he trailed off then added, "And blueberry syrup. Lots of it. Plus milk!"

Selphie laughed and nodded her head, brown hair bouncing up and down. "And you Riku?"

"I'll have a mushroom, onion and cheese omlette with those little cubed potato thingies." Selphie gave him a funny look and Riku sighed. "Potato wedges, please. And ketchup. And ranch. And coffee too, black."

"Eww," Axel said as Selphie nodded and walked away. "That sounds gross, ketchup _and _ranch?"

Riku rolled his eyes and pushed the menu away from himself. "It sounded good. So uh… you saw Roxas last night?"

Axel unrolled his napkin and played mindlessly with the knife that came out, setting the spoon and fork aside. "Yeah… I was gonna go see if Sora was up but there was this party and apparently it's Roxas's birthday today. I mean, it's not like I went out _looking _for him, he just kinda found me sitting on the grass and sat down too."

"Oh yeah? So what'd you guys do?"

"Nothing. Talked for a little bit and I promised I wouldn't kill him last night and then I went inside," Axel said a little too fast. Riku arched a brow but let it go. "Hey, so what're the matches like for the first round of the tournament?"

Riku laughed and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I worked on it last night. So for the first round we've got the Anime Club versus the Tech Club, the Harry Potter Club—"

"Don't you mean the _International_ Harry Potter Book Club Association?" Axel cut in with a smirk. "God forbid you get _that _wrong around Sora. He'd shit a brick."

"Yeah, what you said, versus the Spirit Squad, the RPGers United versus the FPS League, and finally Amnesty International versus the Garden Club."

"We have a garden club?"

"Yeah, apparently. Anyway, those are the clubs that are registered to play. A few of the clubs didn't qualify because they didn't have enough members. So rules go that all clubs need at least six members to participate, and they are allowed to borrow members from clubs that _are not _participating in the tournament, but only one is allowed. Other than that, all standard rules of volleyball apply."

"And the prize this year is?"

Riku set his piece of paper down as Selphie set two cups of coffee down for them, plus Axel's milk which he immediately downed. "This year the prize is an all expenses paid weekend stay on the mainland at that cute little bed and breakfast, along with a full day of activities at the theme park there."

"Holy shit! That is _way_ better than last year's prize!" Axel said as he slammed his fists down on the table. "Maybe I should have participated?"

Riku snorted. "You wouldn't need a whole team with you; you would need yourself and someone willing to play against you. I doubt anyone would compete."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Axel said as he picked up his coffee and lightly blew on it. "Sora would love that. He's never been to the mainland, has he?"

"I don't think so."

"Huh. Well, maybe they'll win."

"You think?" Riku stirred his coffee. "I would have to say that the club with the best chance would probably be RPGers United because of all the stupid running around with swords and shit. I mean, they're _kinda_ athletic."

Axel sipped on his coffee then spat, "No, they're kinda fat. I think that the Spirit Squad's gonna win. All those cute girls in little skirts jumping around and cheering…" he sighed and trailed off. "They should win."

"What? You mean Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Aerith, Tifa and Selphie? Man, they're so disorganized. They fight over their outfits instead of practicing. I bet they're going to be doing their _nails _instead of playing. Or while they're playing. Whatever."

One of Axel's fire red eyebrows raised and he leaned over the table to give Riku an interested look. "So is _that_ why you put them up against Sora's club?"

"What? No… they're evenly matched. Yanno?" Riku downed his coffee and immediately regretted it as it burned all the way down his throat. He coughed and slammed the cup down, searching for something else to drink. Axel handed him his coffee and Riku drank it, then spit half of it out.

"Hey!" Axel shouted as he got hot coffee all over himself. "Shit man!"

"What the hell did you do that for? That was _hot!" _Riku screamed. "Fuck!"

Axel laughed as he wiped coffee off his shirt. "Because it was funny. Chill out. Besides, food's here."

Selphie eyed them warily as she set their food down. "Uh, anything else?"

"Water," Riku said as he shot Axel a dirty look.

"And napkins," Axel added. Selphie nodded and scurried away as she tried to balance the other two plates she had in her hands.

"Well, I still think you're being easy on Sora, but the matches are pretty much your call. It's not like Seifer can trump you on that."

Riku shoved a pile of food into his mouth, ignoring Axel's remark.

* * *

Sora wiped the sleepiness out of his eyes as he threw the covers off the bed with one hand. He could hear someone typing on a keyboard and knew Riku was back. "Good morning!" he said happily as he stood up and walked over to Riku. Riku turned around and smiled at the pajama clad boy. 

"It's actually afternoon now. You have a class tonight, right?"

"Nope. It was cancelled. Teacher got sick."

"Oh? So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Roxas's birthday! I hope that they got my message!" Sora shouted as his eyes opened wide, now fully awake. "Did anyone call?"

"Uh, no. But there was this note on the door." Riku handed Sora the blue post it and Sora heaved a sigh of relief. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, they got my message. Roxas can't have a birthday party without _clowns."_

Riku almost fell out of the chair as he wondered what planet Sora really came from. Clowns? For a nineteen year old? Even Sora couldn't be that dumb… could he? "Uh, Sora… did you really get _clowns?"_

Sora nodded. "Well yeah. It's a _birthday party."_

"Uh… that's nice and all but I'm sure Roxas wants something a little more… adult?" Riku offered as nicely as possible.

Sora laughed and kicked Riku's chair. "I was just kidding. My job was making sure the beer kegs were ordered. Which they are. And they'll be here tonight!"

"You… just made a joke?"

"Yeah."

Riku grinned. "Well you got me. I thought you were serious."

"Nah. I'm saving the clowns for _your_ birthday!"

"Please don't," Riku mumbled under his breath. He then realized that of all things to do for a party, Sora was given the job of getting the beer? "Who… put you in charge of _beer, _Sora?"

"Oh, I did! Hayner got the beach approved for the event, since his Aunt is on the board of directors of something, Pence made all those cute fliers for Roxas's party inviting everyone that're all over campus, and Olette is… Actually, I forgot what Olette's doing. But I know it's important!" Sora insisted as he clutched his hands into fists and stomped one foot on the ground in Riku's direction.

There was a knock on the door and Riku looked over, past Sora. "It's open!" he called out.

The door opened and Roxas ran in, face bright red. "Help!" he shouted. "Help me! Why didn't you _tell me_ that my party was a costume party?!"

"Huh? I thought you knew. It was Leon's idea."

"I thought he was _kidding!"_

Sora shook his head. "I've already got my costume. Uh, you should probably get something to wear. That would suck to show up at your own party out of theme!" Sora giggled. "What do you want to go as?"

"Uh, I don't know. A girl."

"Probably not a good idea. How about as a pirate?"

"How about as a ninja?" Roxas said in an annoyed tone. "That's stupid. I wanna go as something cool."

Sora thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Oh, I know! Let's go find Aerith, she probably still has the other one somewhere… See ya later Riku!" Sora shouted as he dragged Roxas out of the room.

"Well… I guess I need a costume too."

Axel stared at Riku in disbelief. "It's a _costume_ party?"

"Yeah. Are you going?"

"Uh, no. I'm good on that."

"You sure? I mean, even if you _did _run into Roxas, it's not like he'd know it was you. Just do something that requires a mask."

"What are you going as?"

Riku smirked. "Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean?" Axel nodded. "I'm going as Will. I remembered that Cloud did that last year for Halloween so I asked him if I could borrow the costume. What about you? Don't you still have that Jack Sparrow costume from last year?"

"That's _Captain _Jack Sparrow to you, mate," Axel said in his best impression of the Captain. "And yeah, I do. But why would I want to go? I mean, it's Roxas's birthday party, and we don't exactly _like_ each other, man."

"So? The whole campus is going, it's supposed to be on the beach by the pier and everyone's really excited. Do you really want to miss one of the biggest parties of the year?"  
Axel rolled his eyes as he closed his laptop. "You're only going because Sora's going. You and Roxas aren't really that close."

"I'm _going_ because I was invited, dickhead."

"Aha! I wasn't, so there."

"No, actually, you were. Sora asked me to give this to you." Riku smirked and handed Axel an envelope. "It's your personal invitation to the party. And it says wear a costume."

The sigh that escaped Axel's lips was heavy and annoyed. Costume parties on the beach? It sounded like something out of a bad movie. That, in addition to being a bad idea altogether. But who was he to refuse a _personal _invitation?

"Fine, I'll go. What's Sora going as?"

"Actually, I don't know. Are you going as Jack?"

"Captain Jack."

"Yeah, what you said. Anyway, the party starts at eight. Don't forget to dress up."

"Yeah yeah…"

* * *

Sora and Roxas giggled as they picked their costumes up from Aerith. "Thanks so much for doing these!" they said before running back to Roxas's dorm. They threw the costumes onto the bed and began to take off their clothes, excited to try them on. 

"These are _so cool!" _Roxas said excitedly as he threw his pants into some hidden corner of the room. "We're going to have the best costumes!"

"And we _match!" _Sora added with a nod. "Aerith is the best! She makes the Spirit Squad outfits too, yanno."

"Oh yeah? Those are cute!"

"I know!"

They looked in the mirror when they finished dressing and nodded approvingly. There was no way anyone else's costume could be better than theirs. Well, except for the people they were originally intended for. Aerith had offered to let them borrow the costumes so she could see how well they would hold up with a night of activities, since the costumes were meant for a group of students heading to an anime convention on the mainland.

Roxas had nearly died when he found out that they were straight out of his favorite anime: Fullmetal Alchemist. Roxas was Edward Elric while Sora had gotten to be Colonel Mustang. Sora and Roxas had even changed their hair colors – temporarily – to be black and blond respectively. They were just lucky she had made a set of them and Roxas was able to fit into the Edward Elric outfit.

Roxas smoothed out the wrinkles in the black jacket and grinned as he stared at himself. "Wow, this is great! I mean, my braid's a little _short _but it'll do!" He turned to look at Sora who was buttoning up his blue uniform jacket. "Wow, that's great! Your hair's kinda long..." he trailed off and grinned. "But it'll do!"

"Yeah! Ready?"

"Uh huh, let's go!" They headed off to the party where there was already a large crowd of people. Everyone shouted, Happy birthday! as they recognized Roxas and he smiled approvingly.

"This is so great," Roxas said to Sora as they headed to the DJ's table. "Wow, look at Paine! She's dressed up as Lara Croft! That's awesome! She even got a wig!"

Sora jumped from one foot to the other as he pointed to Yuna and Rikku. "And they're from chobits! It's Chi! CHI!!" Yuna and Rikku looked over at them and waved, then pressed their hands against each others, leaned in, and shouted,

"Happy birthday Roxas!"

"Wow, they're so cute!" Roxas exclaimed. They continued to survey the scene, eventually ending up with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They had all decided to cosplay from Ranma ½, one of Roxas's favorite animes. Olette stepped forward first, speaking in a high pitched voice. "Wo ai len, Ranma?" She was dressed in a pink and purple Chinese outfit with a long lavender wig and two painted beach balls on sticks. "Do you like it? I'm Shampoo!"

Roxas laughed and nodded his head eagerly. "Wow, that's amazing! How'd you put that together?"

"A friend lent it to me. I made the beach balls and bought the wig. Awesome, huh?"

"Yeah!"

Pence was next, and he was dressed in all black, like a ninja, with a handkerchief wrapped around his head and a pair of girls' underwear in his hand. He grinned and gave Roxas a thumbs up. "I'm Happosai, and I love girls' underwear!"

Roxas and Sora high fived each other, then high fived Pence. "Sweet!"

Finally there was Hayner. He adjusted the oversized glasses on his face, then stood up straight and displayed his white Chinese robes. A sash was tied around his waist and on his head was a long black wig. Before Roxas could say anything Hayner quacked like a duck. "Oh, _Mousse," _Olette whined as she patted his head.

"Wow, your costumes are all so great!" Roxas confessed. He turned to Sora then and smiled. "This costume thing was a great idea Sora! I'm glad you decided to go with it!"

"Everyone helped. And look! Leon got the beer here!"

"Beer? I don't really drink, Sora…"

Sora grinned and grabbed Roxas's hand. "Yeah, but it's your birthday. I mean, that's what you _do_ in college, right? Drink beer?" Roxas nodded nervously as they headed to the three kegs that were set up in the middle of the party. "Okay, we'll have two beers!"

Leon smiled at the two and handed Sora two cups of beer. "So how do you like my costume?" he asked as Sora handed Roxas one. Leon was dressed in a doctor's coat with his hair gelled back and gently curled. His name badge read McDreamy.

"Mc…Dreamy? Oh! You're from Grey's Anatomy!" Roxas shouted. "I get it!"

Leon smirked and nodded. "The girls are loving it. Somewhere around here Seifer's dressed as McSteamy…" he trailed off and waved the two away. "Go, have fun! It's your party!"

They headed to a table where there was a wide assortment of hors d'eouvres and grabbed a plate to fill. After stuffing their stomachs with shrimp and cocktail sauce and pointing out all the people they recognized, Roxas finally asked, "Where's Riku?"

"I dunno. I haven't seen him yet. Ooh, there's Naminé! Hey, isn't she that girl from Pirates of the Caribbean?"

Roxas looked around and finally spotted her. "Oh yeah! That's the outfit in the beginning of the third movie, when they're all in Singapore! That means there's a Will around here somewhere..."

"Eep!" Sora yelped when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned around and saw Riku's eyes but different hair. "Riku? Are you… You're Will! How cool!"

Riku nodded and bowed, his red silk shirt reflecting the flames of the bonfire that had just started. "Yeah. And you're… Ugh, don't tell me. An anime?"

"Fullmetal Alchemist!" they both shouted before laughing. "I'm Colonel Mustang," Sora said.

"And I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Cool, huh?" He pulled a pocketwatch out of his pocket and showed it to Riku. "Aerith got it for me for my birthday. It's the watch that they use in the anime. Isn't it cool?"

Riku nodded. "Uh, yeah. Hey, have you seen Axel?"

"Nuh uh. Why?" Sora asked.

"He said he'd come."

"Oh yeah? Well, as long as he's not mean…" Roxas trailed off as he saw someone dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow. Not just dressed as, but completely acting like, mannerisms included. In one hand was a bottle of what appeared to be rum, and in the other he was moving his fingers in a half-drunk, half-crazed kind of way.

"Wow, cool costume," Sora said as he saw what Roxas was looking at. "Is that… a guy? He looks kinda like a girl…"

Riku tried not to laugh. "That's, uh… that's Axel."

"What?" Sora exclaimed. "But that's the prettiest Captain Jack Sparrow I've ever seen? … Axel can't grow facial hair, can he," he added at the end in a low voice. "I knew it!"

Riku slapped Sora on the back and laughed. "I don't think he could even if he tried. But I'm starting to wonder if he's already drunk… Hold on. I'll be right back." Riku rushed over to Axel who was bowing and kissing Naminé's hand.

"Ah, it would never have worked, love," he said with a wink. Naminé laughed and pushed him away just as Elizabeth would have done. "You can only dream!"

"Axel, are you already toasted?" Riku asked as he put his arm through Axel's and lead him over to Sora and Roxas. "You smell… drunk."

"Drunk? Aye… where's the rum?!" He took a big swig out of his half empty bottle and laughed. "Man, I love parties. Actually, I really do love rum."

"Yeah? Well don't get too wasted. You haven't even said happy birthday to the birthday boy!" Riku took the rum out of Axel's hand and pushed him toward Sora and Roxas. "Okay, say happy birthday!"

Axel paused and even though it was only for a second, he was thinking a million miles a minute. He and Roxas, they hated each other. It may have been stupid, but that was the way things were. Even worse than that, if he was nice then Roxas would take it as his defeat and he would win. But if he was mean… well, it _was _his birthday, shouldn't he be nice?

On top of that, Roxas was dressed in a stupid anime costume – Axel could tell – and it made him want to rant and yell about how stupid anime was because it was _only _a cartoon and there wasn't even _real acting _involved, just a bunch of people reading lines. Video games, on the other hand, required much more work and actually involved the players in the game. Anime was just for lazy people who wanted to sit around and get fat.

Axel purposely left the part out in his head where that was also what video gamers did. Sit. And get fat, nine times out of ten.

So Axel was stuck at the improbable situation of doing the right thing and being nice or doing the Axel thing and being mean. With a quick nudge from Riku he found himself blurting, "Your costume is stupid!"

Roxas's eyes were hurt and he cowered back behind Sora, mouth closed and lips pursed together tightly. Riku slapped Axel in the back of the head at which Axel promptly smacked Riku in the side with his bottle of rum. "What is your problem?!" Riku shouted at Axel.

Axel decided that he had overstayed his welcome and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I am who I am and that's all that I am. Later man." He trudged off toward the dorms while Sora held Roxas's hand tightly.

"Sorry about that. He's probably just drunk," Sora pointed out as he squeezed Roxas's hand once. Riku's eye twitched. "And _I _think your costume is great!"

Roxas sighed. "It was a stupid wish," he mumbled as he turned around and looked at Axel's fleeting figure. "But he's gonna apologize if I have anything to do with it!" He pulled his hand free of Sora's and chased after Axel who was more than just a little tipsy and was having trouble figuring out which direction he was supposed to be headed.

"Hey!" Roxas shouted as he came up behind Axel. "What's your deal tonight?! You didn't have to say anything at all you know!"

Axel turned around – or rather half stumbled – and stared at Roxas. "What are you doing? Are you following me?"

"What? Yes, I am! It's my damn birthday and I even invited you but you had to go and be an asshole! I _hate you!"_

As the words came out Roxas became oddly aware of how annoyed he was, but more than that how _hurt _he was that Axel had just about ruined his birthday. The confession of his hate seemed appropriate at the moment, but why did he hate Axel? Roxas found himself wondering as Axel's facial expression changed from something near I'm-totally-going-to-pass-out-as-soon-as-I-find-a-bed to You've-got-less-than-five-minutes-to-live.

Axel stared at Roxas. "What… _now _you hate me, as opposed to before?"

"Yes!"

Axel shrugged and took another swig of his rum, which was only a few centimeters above empty. "Hey, if that's the way the world turns I'm not going to argue, man. I left, alright? As in, have fun at your party, toodles!" He started up toward the dorms again when he felt a very firm punch in his back. When he turned around he then received a very firm punch in the face which sent him onto his rear end in the grass.

Axel knew his face would be bruised in the morning. Right next to his left eye and draining into his eye socket to give him a black eye; it pissed him off more than it should have. He glared fire and brimstone at Roxas but remained on the ground.

"You must want to die tonight."

"Shut up! Just _shut up!" _Roxas screamed. "For once, just _once, _can't you quit with bad boy façade? I don't _get you!! _You're like a friggin' rubix cube, Axel! But no matter how many times I twist the thing nothing ever matches up!"

Axel stood up and Roxas became acutely aware of their almost ridiculous height difference. "It's not a goddamned façade," he spat as he leaned down toward Roxas. "I _know _who I am. Who are you?" he teased. "Just some punk kid with stupid hair. Y'know, I don't even _know_ why I was nice to you at all. I mean, you're annoying, and a pain in the ass, and you're stupid, and there's pretty much nothing good about you at all! You're like excess baggage," Axel clicked his tongue and grinned, "and no one more than I would _love_ to get rid of you."

The words cut Roxas deep, deeper than they should have. At the same time, the mention of love when relating to Roxas, even if it was in the sense of his demise, flared something in his gut. Something that oddly resembled butterflies, and Roxas was forced to clasp his hands to his mouth at the sudden revelation. Suddenly, it all made sense and he felt his face grow hot and flushed.

_This can't… I'm not... it's not possible!_ he screamed inside his head.

Roxas wanted to pull out his hair, cut out his eyes, and hang himself all at the same time. However unfeasible, it sounded like a pretty good idea to him. More than just a good idea, though; it was one of those ideas that if executed perfectly could save him a lot of time and effort in the butterflies-in-your-stomach department, and he desperately needed a remedy for his particular ailment.

"Are you even listening to me?" Axel asked. His voice wasn't harsh though; in fact, it was more concerned – and a tad bit drunk – than annoyed. At some point during his drabble Roxas had gone paler than the moon and begun to sweat profusely. It was not nearly attractive, nor healthy Axel assumed, and he obviously wasn't paying attention to boot.

"W… what?" Roxas said as he shook his head. He looked like he was about to keel over and die or have a heart attack or something along the lines of 'serious medical condition.' Axel reached out his hand to touch Roxas but quickly withdrew it. His sudden burst of a conscience made him want to vomit. That thought alone caused him turn away quickly from Roxas and drop to his knees as much dry heaving and slurpy wet vomiting ensued.

A hand was on Axel's back, pulling his wig and hat off then slicking his hair back while he puked out his insides. Soft fingers traced along his forehead gathering stray hairs and slicking them out of his eyes. When he finally finished he closed his eyes and something dry was being patted on his forehead. His eyes flashed open and Roxas handed him a napkin.

"You've… uh, got stuff, on… well, _there," _he said as he pointed but didn't touch. Axel wiped the tiny chunks of his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bottle of rum from his face. "Are you okay?"

"Aww crap," he whined as he threw the napkin into the pile of vomit before falling back on his butt. He scooted away from it as quickly as possible, Roxas following, and slammed his fist into the dirt. "This is fucking retarded! Make it easy on me, 'kay?" he said as he looked up at Roxas. "I hate you, you hate me. Simple. No being nice, no making things complicated. I mean, I don't even _get_ why it's so _complicated _with you! _Normally_ I don't have this problem but with you, things just get all—" Axel wiggled his fingers in the way that Captain Jack Sparrow would. "They get all fuckered up!"

Roxas squatted in front of Axel and smiled. "You're drunk, huh."

"You bet your ass I am."

"Huh. So uh… are you even going to _remember_ tonight?"

Axel giggled. Roxas nearly cringed at the unnatural sound. "Oh, I doubt it. Well, parts. And probably throwing up, maybe. Maybe not. I dunno."

Roxas leaned in closer to Axel. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah… Why? And _why the hell_ are you so close to me?" Axel tried to swat Roxas away but Roxas grabbed both of Axel's wrists and held them in place, the innebriated Axel unable to defend himself.

"Because." Roxas leaned in and whispered into the shell of Axel's ear, "Because I like you, Axel. Because you're a good guy, somewhere inside there."

* * *

Riku half-dragged, half-carried Sora back to their dorm. His mind should have been on where Roxas and Axel had disappeared to, and if anyone was mortally injured or already dead of which there was more than just a slight possibility, but he was more concerned about Sora at that point. What Sora had thought were fruit drinks were actually _cocktails_ and all those in his poor virgin stomach just hadn't sat well. Inbetween bouts of vomiting and nearly crying, Sora had managed to pass out and Riku had taken it upon himself to carry the exhausted, nearly alcohol-poisoned boy back to the room to make sure he would survive. 

"Riku?" he squeaked meekly as Riku opened the door to their room. "Is this what it's like to be drunk?"

"Yeah, Sora. C'mon, let's get you changed. I can't tell if you're covered in puke, or food, or drinks, or _what. _It's kinda gross."

Sora attempted to nod then slapped his hand against his forehead. Also a bad idea, unfortunately, as it set him off balance and sent him toppling backward. Riku grabbed him with one arm as best he could and managed to stop Sora from smashing his head against the door.

"C'mon, uh, sit on the bed. I'll undress you. Just don't throw up on me, 'kay?" He smiled warmly at Sora and Sora smiled back. With a little help Sora was on the bed, boots off, while Riku began to undress himself first.

Unaware he was being watched, Riku unbuttoned the borrowed red silk shirt that he was pretty sure had gotten vomit on it at some point, and let it fall to the floor, followed by his wig and head scarf. Next came the belt, then the boots, and finally he was only in his pirate pants. Sora stared at how well-defined Riku had become after playing volleyball. He hadn't noticed it before because Riku rarely went swimming even though he played volleyball. He felt a sudden pang of guilt as he realized that maybe the reason why he never knew Riku was so built was because he never went to Riku's volleyball games.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked as he knelt down at the foot of the bed in front of Sora. "Are you going to get sick again?"

Sora shook his head very slowly. It actually looked more like he was looking to his left and then his right rather than a no. "I'm… blech, I'm okay."

"Good." Riku began to unbutton Sora's jacket and Sora felt himself leaning forward. His head bumped against Riku's, their foreheads touching, and he giggled. "Is this funny?" Riku asked as he continued down Sora's chest.

"Yeah," Sora answered as his eyes focused on Riku's, even though Riku couldn't see. "Your hair smells good, Riku."

"Yeah? I wash it. You should probably do the same in the morning. God only _knows_ what you've got stuck in there," he mused. Riku finished going down the jacket and slid it off Sora's shoulders, standing up to do so. He leaned over Sora's right shoulder as he got the right arm out first, then moved to the left side to finish removing the jacket.

Sora fidgeted and when Riku accidentally brushed against the side of his torso he squirmed and almost fell off the bed. "Watch it!" Riku shouted as he threw his arm protectively around Sora. "Sheesh. Be careful. I don't want to have to send you to the hospital!"

Sora pouted and put his arms straight up in the air. "My undershirt. Off," he instructed. Riku shook his head and wondered how he'd managed to get himself into such a predicament. He pulled Sora's undershirt free of the navy pants and pulled it up over his head, then threw it to a corner of a room.

His eyes lingered on Sora's newly tanned body and he had to remember to close his mouth. _That's a weird reaction,_ he thought to himself as his eyes met with Sora's for a moment. Sora looked up and smiled, eyes bloodshot but still the truest blue he'd ever seen. A small sigh escaped Riku's lips and he tried to look away but Sora's eyes were locked on his own.

Sora's arms came down unexpectedly on either side of Riku's shoulders and elicited a small gasp from the only partially innebriated silver-haired boy. "We're best friends forever, right?"

"Y-yeah, Sora."

"Good. Because you're my favorite person!"

Riku grinned. "Yeah? What about Roxas?"

"Roxas is different. He's a lot of fun and I trust him but still… you're my favorite. Okay?" Sora winked at Riku in a fashion totally unlike himself. "But only if I'm your favorite too!"

"Yeah, sure."

"No, say it!" Sora said as he shook Riku and brought their heads together again. "Say it! Say I'm your favorite!"

Riku could smell the fruity cocktails on Sora's breath over the vomit, and wondered if they had stuck those cute little umbrellas in his drinks. Pushing the thought away, Riku responded, "Yes, Sora. You're my favorite person."

"Yay!" Sora exclaimed before planting a big wet one on Riku's unexpecting lips. Riku's eyes went wide as he stared at Sora for what seemed like an eternity, their lips touching. Sora pulled back a little and broke the kiss with a big fat grin. "Are we done yet?"

"In a… minute."

Riku pulled away from Sora and turned around, fingers touching his lips. _It was only a friendly kiss. Sora's not gay. He's had girlfriends… besides, we're best friends. That makes it okay… right?_ he argued in his head. But his fingers still lingered on his lips and he still felt his skin burning from the close encounter. _I don't get it._

"Hey! My pants!" Sora shouted as he threw his legs up into the air. "Now!"

"Ugh," Riku groaned as he turned around and put his hands on his hips. He tried hard not to laugh at the image presented to him: Sora shirtless, laying back on the bed, legs stuck in the air as he fumbled with the belt buckle. "Hold on, Sora. I'll get it, okay?"

Sora whined as he continued to pull on the buckle and Riku leaned over him just enough to begin to undo the belt. His fingers masterfully undid the belt and he whipped it out from through the beltloops in a way that surprised even Sora. "Have you had a lot of practice at that?" he asked between giggles.

"No. Now shut up. It's bed time, so what pajamas do you wanna wear?"

"Mmm, yours!"

Riku coughed awkwardly. "Mine? Why?"

"Because they smell good, like you!"

"Jesus Sora. Fine. I'm not going to argue with someone who's drunk. Gimme a second. Can you undo your own pants?" Riku knew it was probably a bad idea to ask, but the words came out and by the time he had turned around Sora had set into motion a chain of events that led to him falling off the bed and onto the floor, head-first.

"Owww!" he cried as his face hit the floor. He closed his eyes tightly and Riku could see the tears forming at the corners of them. "Ri_kuuuuuuuu!!!"_

Riku dropped to his knees, pajamas in hand, and put his arm under Sora's head. "Shit Sora! What'd you do _that_ for?!"

"I was tryin' ta take them _off!" _he whined as he tried not to cry. But he was already blubbering and in moments the tears were falling and he was crying – or rather bawling – and grabbed at Riku's nonexistent shirt. His hands settled for resting against Riku's chest as Riku lifted Sora up and into his lap to cradle the crying boy.

"I guess I know what kind of drunk _you are," _he joked as his hand snaked around Sora's waist to pull the boy in closer. Sora continued to cry and Riku rested his chin on top of the smaller boy's head. "Aww Sora, don't cry. You're _fine. _It was just a little bump."

Sora cried harder and rubbed his cheek against Riku's firm chest. "But it _hurts, _Riku!" he wailed. Riku grinned and shook his head.

"Shh, it's okay. Your head'll be fine, there aren't _that_ many more brain cells you can lose."

"Waaaahhh!" Sora's tears ran down Riku's chest and he smacked Riku once in the shoulder. "That's so _mean_ Riku!"

"Sorry, sorry," Riku whispered to Sora. "Do you… feel better now?"

"Y… yeah. I guess so," Sora sniffled. He turned his head up then to look at Riku and gave him a little smile. "Thanks, Riku."

"Yeah, no problem," Riku replied as he helped Sora up. As soon as their bare chests weren't touching Riku felt a loss that he couldn't explain, like something had just been taken away from him. He looked at Sora, standing now with a little help from the bed, and his eyes trailed down Sora's frame from head to toe.

_He's… my best friend, _he quickly thought as he shook his head. He hunched down a little as he undid Sora's pants and helped Sora step out of them, then handed Sora a pair of white flannel pajamas. "Ready?" he asked. Sora nodded and with Riku's assistance Sora was finally dressed for bed and slightly less vomity than earlier.

"Okay, lights out," Riku said as he threw the covers off Sora's bed. "Ready?"

"… Hey Riku?" Sora's voice was timid and his eyes were set on the ground. Riku cocked a brow and took his hand off the light switch.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Sora looked up then and looked like he was going to cry again. "Aww Sora, what's wrong now?" Riku all but whined. He was tired and after everything with Sora a soft bed and a good night of sleep – what was left of it at least – was all he wanted.

"I don't wanna sleep… by myself."

"Oh Jesus, you're kidding me, right?"

"Nuh uh. Please?"

"Sora," Riku tried to reason, "the last time we slept in the same bed was when we were _nine. _And that was only because you – ugh, that's besides the point." Riku tried to shove away the loud crying that always accompanied Sora's wetting the bed until he was nearly ten years old. "The point _is, _is that you're too old to share a bed with someone. Plus, our beds are freaking tiny."

Sora curled his toes and nodded his head in heartwrenchingly sad way. "Oh… okay. I'll just… sleep alone… then…" As he began to crawl into bed Riku felt himself give in and wished he could just jump out the window. Too bad it was double-paned glass, or he might have done it.

"Fine! Just, we're sleeping in your bed so that if you throw up at least my sheets aren't ruined," Riku spat as he shot Sora a dirty look. Sora's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands as he snuggled under the covers and scooted as close to the wall as possible so Riku had room.

"You're the best, Riku!"

"No, I'm the stupidest. Now shut up and go to sleep." Riku hit the light and crawled into bed with Sora, suddenly very aware that he was still in his pirate pants and Sora was in such soft, fluffy, flannel pajamas. He slid out of the bed to change in the dark as fast as possible but a hand grabbed his immediately.

"Where are you going?!"

"Sora, I'm going to put on pajama pants. I'm not going to sleep in these… pantaloons. Or whatever the hell they're called. Okay?"

Sora sighed but obviously accepted Riku's answer as he let his hand go. Riku quickly changed into black silk pajama pants but opted for no shirt as it was ridiculously hot and having alcohol still in his system wasn't helping. Plus sleeping next to Sora meant someone else's body heat – a drunk person's body heat – and he doubted he was going to get much sleep at all.

He cursed under his breath as he crawled back into bed with his back to Sora. A moment later he felt something warm press against his back and a soft, light breath. In, then out. In, then out.

It was Sora, who had found it perfectly acceptable to use Riku as half of his pillow. The other half was his own arm, which was curled under his head. Riku's body was rigid as he felt Sora's hot breath against his skin. As he built up a light sheen of sweat the breath became cool and Riku tried to look at the pros of the situation.

_At least I'll know if Sora stops breathing._

After a while Riku grew used to the breathing. Just as he was about to fall asleep a slim arm curled around his waist, the hand resting just below his bellybutton. Riku nearly stopped breathing.

"G'night…" Sora mumbled, trailing off. Riku couldn't move.

"Uh, good… night?"

"Mmm… you're soft."

"What?"

"Huh? … Oh, yummy. I want pancakes…"

Riku tried to ignore the hand that was so very low on his body. He attempted to move his arm so he could replace Sora's hand but that ended up disasterously as Sora pulled Riku tight against him so that Riku could feel every part of Sora's body against his back. Worse than that, Riku discovered that while one arm was fine supporting his head under the pillow, the other one had nowhere to go. It was either hang it off the bed and die from the prickly pins associated with a body part falling asleep and then waking back up, or let it rest on Sora's arm.

_Holy crap, that'd make it spooning. I'd be spooning with Sora. Where the hell are you, God? Because this isn't fucking funny! _Riku cursed silently before apologizing and sighing heavily.

After admitting defeat, Riku finally settled on closing his eyes and letting his arm rest on Sora's. He was sure that at some point Sora would kick him off the bed and he'd be in the clear. Hopefully. Eventually.

* * *

A.N.#2: Wow, long chapter. So do me a favor guys? Review, just take that little bit of time and let me know that you liked it. Or hated it O.o;; I hope not, but it's possible. Next chapter's already on the way, needs some massive editing though XD Hanitachan and Beutelmaus are here for that, so soon enough it will be here for your eyes to view!! Saranghae!! Oh, and if _anyone _knows what that means... I will be utterly shocked. If someone can tell me what 'jugoshipeo' means, I will give you the next three chapters of this story. Seriously. 

loving AkuRoku and SoraRiku forever


	4. The trouble with love is: expletive

A.N.: Wow, yay for the reviews!! For you **AkuRoku** lovers, this is the chapter you've been waiting for!! For all the **SoRiku** lovers... oh, that will come in time. It will _come in time._ I just think that with **Sora** being **Sora**, it will take a little longer before **Riku** comes out with his feelings... but when that happens, it'll be **fan-freaking-tastic!!**

This is dedicated to, first and foremost, **Mikomi-Kiyoko**, my brand new beta who has so wonderfully beta'd this chapter within twenty-four hours of me sending it and she did a great job!! Thanks **Mikomi**, I don't know what I'd do without you .

But I can't forget my other beta, **Beutelmaus**, for sticking with me and reading every crazy thing I throw at her; you're the greatest, and we will take over the world with our army of Axel and Roxas clones!!

Finally my **reviewers**, you guys are great!! I love you all so much and I hope this chapter makes you squeal heh. Everyone's been so great, and to those of you who _haven't _reviewed... please do!! I'm keeping this short and not listing all my great reviewers, because you know who you are and this is all for you XD Enjoy!!

**Campus Club Crusaders!**

_

* * *

_**_Chapter Four  
The trouble with love is: (expletive)

* * *

_**Axel opened his eyes and found himself in his room. His head throbbed and he cursed himself for drinking so much rum. He could vaguely remember vomiting up the entire contents of his day before passing out. He sighed before he threw his legs over the side of the bed and held his head in his hands, suddenly realizing that he was only in his boxers, and his clothes were neatly folded – yes, _folded_ – in the basket for dirty laundry. It was then that he knew he didn't drag himself to his room alone, since someone had _obviously _undressed him, tucked him in, and folded his clothes. 

Axel was speechless. Why would anyone do _that_ for _him?_

With a mission in mind, Axel dressed as quickly as possible considering he had a hangover, popped a breath mint into his mouth, and then headed for Riku's room. He wondered how Riku's night had ended up; if he'd hooked up. He nearly choked on his breath mint – Riku, hook up? – and shook his head.

He finally made it and took it upon himself to check and see if the door was already open. With a light turn, the knob didn't stop him and he pushed his way in. "Hey Riku, you up?" he called out. Axel flipped the light switch and couldn't take his eyes off the scene before him.

Riku was in Sora's bed, with Sora's head resting against his chest as Riku's arms curled around him protectively. Axel coughed uncomfortably and Riku's eyes opened slowly, one eye and then the other, until he looked over at Axel. And then at Sora. And then at Axel.

"Oh… Jesus Christ," he hissed as his arms flailed in the air to get away from Sora. Sora mumbled something quietly as he cuddled against Riku's chest more. "Shit… shit shit _shit!_" Riku cursed as his eyes pleaded with Axel to help.

Axel obliged willingly, helping Riku get out of the bed without disturbing Sora. "Man, I thought _I _was hammered," Axel said as he scratched the back of his head with a grin. "Dude, you slept with your roommate. _In his bed."_

"Parley."

"What? Oh dude, this is _so_ not the time."

Riku grinned and pulled on a blue and silver printed tee and jeans as Axel turned away momentarily. "I guess. Uh, so… Other than that awkward moment we just shared, what's up?"

"Do you know who, uh… who took me back to our room last night?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I was totally undressed, and _not _by my drunken self, and my clothes were freaking folded and… well, it was actually kinda nice. I'd like to thank whatever lovely young lady helped me out."

Riku snorted. "Or whatever lovely young man. Maybe it was Demyx."

"Ugh! Demyx would _never _undress me. He's straight as a pin!"

_You'd be surprised, _Riku found himself thinking before shaking his head. "Uh, yeah. Um, the last people I saw you with was us, and then Roxas went after you…" Riku trailed off and raised one eyebrow eloquently. "You don't think that…"

"No way! There's no way Roxas would've done that. Man, I was a real asshole last night…" and as Axel trailed off he found himself feeling just the slightest bit guilty at the way he had acted toward Roxas. "Do you really think that… that _he _did it?"

"Maybe." Riku shrugged and Axel noticed Riku's eyes went back to Sora every minute or so. Like he was worried something bad might happen to the innocently sleeping boy.

"He okay? What happened to him? And uh, why were you in his bed?" Axel joked, nudging Riku in the ribs.

"Cocktails. A lot of them. So I had to drag him up here and put him to bed. How I ended up in his bed… Hell if I know why. I know _how, _just not why. Funny, isn't it?" Riku's voice was soft and compassionate in a way Axel wasn't used to hearing Riku speak. Axel almost cleared his throat, but stopped and figured he'd just smile.

"Wanna grab breakfast?" Riku finally asked as he fell back into reality. "After last night… I need some coffee."

"Black. And meat. Men need meat," Axel said, oddly unaware at the sound of his own voice reaffirming his masculinity. "To the cafeteria!"

"Holy… shit." Riku and Axel shared the words as they walked into the cafeteria to find hundreds of rainbow colored posters for the newest club on campus. Students were passing out fliers at the end of the lunch line while other students – also obviously part of the club – put up even more of the posters.

"What does it say?" Axel asked as he grabbed one of the fliers out of someone's hand as they passed by. "Uh… DIU Counsel for Gay and Lesbian Rights… Whoa, what the fuck?!" Axel yelped as he took the flier and smashed it into Riku's chest. Riku ripped the flier out of Axel's hand and stared at it.

"Uh… you didn't read the bottom, did you?" Riku asked meekly. Axel's eyes were wide as he attempted to breathe, one hand gripping a table so tightly his knuckles had gone paler than his skin already was. "President and Founder: Roxas."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ROXAS IS GAY?!"

Axel had the entire attention of the cafeteria.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE WORLD COMING TO MAN?!" Axel finished as he threw his hands up in the air in a bout of frustration. "Goddamnit!"

Riku grabbed Axel by the shoulder and pulled him close as he locked eyes with Roxas across the cafeteria. "Chill," Riku whispered. "Roxas is still Sora's friend."

"Man, this is fucking ridiculous!"

"Hey! What's up Axel?" Axel heard a familiar voice say. He sighed happily and shook his head, eyes closed.

"Demyx, my man. What's up?"

When Axel's eyes opened he almost collapsed onto the floor. He felt his right knee threaten to give out but it held its own. For now. "Yeah, I'm so glad that Roxas started this club. Actually, I was just offered the Vice President spot and I took it! Isn't that great? I mean, this campus has a lot of stuff, but nothing for the gays." Demyx grinned as he gave Axel a thumbs-up. "You should check it out! We have our first official campus meeting tonight in the quad!"

"I am _not_ gay!" Axel shouted as Demyx waved a hand goodbye. "I'm not… I'm _not_ gay…" Riku tried to put his hand on Axel's shoulder but Axel brushed him away. "Dude, my roommate is gay. Roxas is gay. Fuck, who else is there?" He turned to Riku then and arched a brow. "Please. Don't tell me you are too."

Riku shook his head slowly. "Um, I don't _think_ so."

"That," Axel said as he ground his teeth, "is _not _very comforting, Riku."

Somewhere between constant sighs and bouts of anger, Axel managed to calm down… a little. He leaned back against one of the foundation pillars in the cafeteria and shook his head, ripping the poster off the pillar that was behind his head and crumpling it up.

"So… I've gotten the body count to like… too many. Paine's a lesbian… Demyx is gay… Leon's friggin' gay, ugh, and Roxas is obviously gay… Wait, why didn't I _see that?! _Am I _blind?!_" Axel tried not to cry. "Ugh, and I'm sure Sora's gonna join 'cause Roxas is in it. Is he gay? …Man, I bet he's gay. He's such a… a… Oh I don't know! Sora's totally gay!" he ranted as he ripped more posters off the walls and pillars. "I _HATE_ GAY PEOPLE!"

Someone behind Axel snorted. "That's kinda mean to say, isn't it? Even for you, Axel." Axel turned around slowly, arms extended out on either side of his body with handfuls of ripped posters in his hands. Roxas didn't look any more gay than normal, and normally he didn't look gay. Axel let the posters fall out of his hands and when Riku approached him to hopefully prevent a natural disaster, Axel raised a hand and hissed,

"If you come any fucking closer Riku, I will kill everyone you hold dear." The words were harsh and Riku's eyes went cold and dead as he stepped away. He knew Axel didn't mean it, but he wasn't about to step in and stop Axel from getting expelled if that was his attitude.

"You… you started this?" he managed to spit out without actually spitting on Roxas. Roxas nodded his head. "Why… why the _hell_ would you do something like _this?!"_

"Because I'm gay. And because there are other gays on campus." He frowned, then added, "And lesbians. Them too. We're not sexist."

Axel grabbed Roxas by the collar of his jacket and lifted him up, then smashed him into the wall. He brought their faces within centimeters and Roxas could smell the alcohol still on Axel's breath from the night before. Axel's eyes narrowed and for a moment Roxas thought he saw red eyes, not beautiful green ones. "I think…" he whispered nearly into Roxas's ear, "that you should _disband_ or I may actually fucking _kill you _right here and _now, Roxas."_

Roxas slid his hands up between himself and Axel and grabbed Axel's shirt to pull him so close that one breath would bring their lips together. "No."

Axel pulled away and let go of Roxas. "E-excuse me?!" he shouted. There was more than a small crowd that had formed, including quite a few members of the club. They walked toward Roxas but he raised his hand and shook his head.

"You heard me. It's not fair. We deserve a club, too. It's only fair." Roxas turned to walk away, but Axel punched his fist into the wall right in front of Roxas' face to prevent him from leaving.

"We're not done," Axel growled. Roxas turned back to face Axel and gave him a playful look.

"Hey Axel," he said sweetly as he took a step toward him. Axel stepped back, not even realizing that he had done so. "You really _don't_ remember last night, do you?"

"What?" Axel asked, eyes blinking wildly. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night. How you got back to your room."

"What about it? I was drunk and stumbled up there," he lied as his eyes caught Riku's. Riku watched, amused but also nervous for how bold Roxas was being with Axel.

Axel, more than anyone else Riku knew, had a low tolerance for anything that even resembled gay. He ran the other direction if he couldn't immediately destroy whatever it was, which usually meant a lot of running. It scared the living daylights out of him.

"No, you didn't. Because you nearly passed out after throwing your guts up near the quad." Roxas grabbed Axel by a large chunk of his hair and pulled him down to his height so he could whisper into the shell of his ear, "Didn't you even wonder for a second why I would start a club for gay people?" Roxas' breath tickled Axel's ear and for a second Axel's eyes closed and he almost enjoyed it. Almost. He ripped himself free of Roxas' grip and pushed the smaller boy back.

"Fuck off, Roxas," he hissed. "Don't fuck around with the big boys when you're still on training wheels."

Roxas smirked and winked at Axel. "Yeah? 'Cause last night, you weren't such a _big boy, _Axel."

* * *

"I've been staring at a computer for so long my eyes have pretty much committed suicide," Sora said as he heard the door open. "Man, I feel icky. And gross. I should probably shower. And I kinda smell. Oh, did you get breakfast already? I'm really hungry. Maybe I'll go downstairs and—" 

Sora was cut off by the person grabbing his – or rather, Riku's – swivel chair and spinning him around. Axel's very green and very angry eyes connected with Sora's and he all but screamed, "Did you fucking know?!"

Sora bit his lip and leaned as far back into the seat as he could, hoping that maybe Axel wouldn't be able to see him. "W-what are you talking about?" he stuttered fearfully. A moment later Riku burst into the room and had Axel by the back of his shirt, then threw the redhead backward into the wall.

"Axel, don't take it out on Sora," Riku instructed as he touched Sora's face lightly. "You okay?" Sora was surprised with the unprecedented act of intimacy and nodded his head, eyes big and confused. Riku removed his hand and turned back to face Axel. "Axel, it's not that big a deal. So uh… so he's gay. So are a lot of other students…" he trailed off and added, "Apparently."

Axel stomped his foot on the ground and looked like he was going to pull all his hair out. Sora suddenly got Riku's comment and grabbed Riku by the belt of his pants. "Wait, _who's _gay?"

Riku looked down at Sora's nearly pitiful figure – exhausted and hungover – and sighed with a shake of his head. "Uh, did you know that Roxas is uh, gay?"

"What?" Sora blinked innocently. "He's… gay? Like, in the butt gay?"

Axel shrieked as Riku nodded his head and tried to ignore the redhead's ridiculous antics. "Uh, yeah. He is. And… from what I could figure…" Riku trailed off and glanced at Axel who actually was pulling on his hair at that point, "He kinda likes Axel?" He said it as a question, not quite sure if he had interpreted everything properly, although he was nearly positive he had.

Sora wrinkled his nose cutely and grinned. "Oh, I guess it makes sense now. Ooh, I wanna join!"

Axel shrieked once again and Riku found it prominent to shut him up with a metal bat against his skull. Axel jumped back as he saw Riku pull out the bat and quickly lowered his shrieks to just loud cries of anger.

"Sora, are you… gay?" Riku asked, turning back to Sora for the millionth time.

"What? Oh, I don't think so. But if Roxas is in it then I wanna be in it too!" he said cheerfully as he kicked his legs back and forth in the seat. "Wanna join with me?" Riku coughed uncomfortably and shook his head. "Aww, suit yourself. I'm gonna go find him and get some breakfast. Bye!" Sora hopped out of the chair and sprinted past a half-dead Axel, who was all but cowering in the corner, and hurried to find his friend.

Riku knelt down by Axel and poked him in the side. "Hey, you done freaking out yet?" he asked. Axel groaned and shook his head. "C'mon. You need to get outta here. Somewhere safe, okay?"

"Please… for the love of God…"

* * *

Axel walked through the quad and down the hill to the beach. He wasn't hungry, and the cafeteria had been packed with the dinner rush so the next best bet was a walk on the beach. He found himself lingering by the pier, watching the waves crash against the beach and wood foundation. He sighed heavily and kicked his foot in the sand as the waves caused the wind to blow it back at him. His black zip-up vest kept him warm enough from the cold wind as the sun finally set over the horizon, but his hole ridden jeans did little else. 

Birds cawed and flew above his head as he walked out from under the pier. Something was bothering him; something had been bothering him all day. Riku hadn't been much help either, or Demyx, or even Sora, for that matter.

_What's your problem for hating gay people anyway? _He heard Demyx's voice echo in his head. _We're still people, Axel. I'm still me. Roxas is still Roxas. And he kinda… yanno?_

'_Kinda yanno' what? _Axel wondered. _He's… gay. And he… he… _Axel shook his head and dropped to his knees in the sand, then leaned back and sat on his feet.

_Didn't you even wonder for a second why I would start a club for gay people? _Axel couldn't escape those words. Those words must have meant that Roxas liked him, right? Or did they imply something else that he was too clueless to figure out? Wind tousled Axel's already ruined hair and he shook his head, a loud sigh slipping past his lips.

Meanwhile, Sora sat down next to Roxas in the sand and dug his toes into the gritty, grainy substance. "So when did you… you know?" 

"When? The other night, at my birthday party. He was talking and I just… knew. And I told him, but he was so _drunk_." Roxas chuckled and shook his head. "The thing is, I really don't know if he's gay. He could be, he could not be. I guess I know who I am now, so who is he?" He thought back to the conversation he and Axel had had and shook his head, dirty blond bangs hiding his eyes.

Sora put his arm around Roxas' shoulders and pulled the other boy's head down onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, Roxas. Do you… how much do you like him, anyway? And how did it happen? I mean… no offense," Sora grinned to himself, "But this _is_ Axel we're talking about."

"That's the whole thing. It's Axel. And I can't quite put my finger on it but sometimes…" He trailed off as the words _every once in a new moon_ came to mind, "Sometimes he's sweet. He's a good guy; I really believe it. But I don't think he could ever really… well, if he _is _gay… he'd have it harder than me." Sora squeezed Roxas' shoulder. "He's kind of a guy's guy, even though he's so freaking _pretty, _Sora. And he kinda hates gay people, too…"

"That does put a damper on the whole thing, doesn't it?" Riku said as he came up behind the two. His eye twitched just a little as Sora turned around and removed his arm from Roxas' shoulder and Roxas removed his head from Sora's. "Not to uh, put any pressure on you…" Riku trailed off and pointed toward the pier. "But Axel's over there."

"R-really?" Roxas asked excitedly. "Maybe I could talk to him?"

"Give it a shot, but don't get your hopes up," Riku warned as he sat down in the sand next to Sora. "Good luck."

* * *

Axel finally gave in and laid back in the sand, eyes closed as he enjoyed the salty taste of the air and the cool breeze that rushed up the beach against his face. He could hear footsteps in the sand, and as he debated how close they were, he felt sand get kicked up into his face. After rubbing his eyes, Axel's eyes flew open to see who the newcomer was. 

"R-Roxas?!" he stuttered as he sat up and scooted back in the sand. "What the hell do _you _want?!"

Roxas sat down in the sand in front of Axel – or rather collapsed onto his knees – and continued to crawl toward Axel as Axel continued to scoot back. Roxas finally just grabbed Axel's ankles and pulled him toward him, with a little help from the slippery sand.

"What do you want?!" he barked as they came face to face. Axel's cheeks were bright red and his breathing came out labored as his eyes connected with Roxas'. "I'm here, what's the deal?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Roxas' voice was soft and sweet, and Axel felt his guard failing.

_Oops, bad idea. He's the enemy! _His brain screamed at him. Something else inside him, somewhere, disagreed. Axel's hand went to his chest as he gave Roxas a dirty look.

"Just… listen. Please?"

"You've got two minutes," he growled as he leaned back to keep his distance. "Not that it'll make a difference _or _save your life."

Roxas nodded his head and smiled childishly. "Okay. Um… I just; I know we didn't get along at first, okay? I mean, you hate anime and I hated you for hating anime… Plus you were so into video games, and stuff. We just didn't really click. But then… I just started to notice stuff about you. Like, the way you always protect Riku even though he doesn't know it, and how you're nice to Sora, even though you think he's kinda weird…

"And then my birthday, with the shooting stars. It meant a lot. That wish meant a lot. But you still haven't asked me what it was. Don't you want to know? Aren't you even a _little _curious?"

Axel kept his eyes averted. "Sure. Whatever. I'm still timing you."

"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

Axel's breath caught in his throat and he shook his head. "No, I don't think so. It's none of your business." But in Axel's mind, he was starting to see the picture that Roxas had been painting with him, not for him. He just didn't _want_ to see it.

"I made a wish that you would see me, _really _see me, for who I am. And maybe… that you'd like me then." Roxas looked down at the sand and smirked sadly.

"I'm still not going to tell you my wish," Axel mumbled.

"That's fine. I've still got a little time left, right?" Axel grunted in response. "I see you, Axel. Past all the attitude and anger and hate and fear… I see you. I think. Because I like you, Axel. Because you're a good guy, somewhere in there."

The words left Roxas' mouth and Axel remembered the night before, when Roxas had whispered those words to him. Those words… were kind, too kind for Axel's seemingly nonexistent heart. Axel's expression was pained for a moment and Roxas took the risk and reached out, touching Axel's face.

Axel's eyes locked with Roxas' and the blond smiled. "I thought that maybe… we had a chance?"

Axel threw dirt in Roxas' face and jumped up, then dashed across the beach up the hill as fast as he could. Away from Roxas. Away from the confusion and pain. Away from the truth. He was scared because somewhere inside himself, Roxas had reached out and touched him. He could feel it, and it scared him. It was painful and wonderful and horrifying all at once, and he couldn't breathe.

The dirt was just as good a spot as any to fall. Axel collapsed onto his hands and knees, eyes closed tightly as he tried to sort out his head and his heart. He could hear footsteps approaching through the grass, and shouted, "Go away! Just _leave me the hell alone!"_

Then there were strong hands, familiar hands on his shoulders and those hands were turning him around and shaking him. Axel continued to scream until the voice finally screamed back, "It's me! Riku!"

Axel's eyes flew open and for the first time since Riku had known Axel he saw the hint of an emotion that wasn't anger. Axel was scared, and confused, and desperate for help. Riku sat there in the dirt with Axel for a moment, hands holding Axel steady by the shoulders, then pulled him in close for a hug. Axel's breath came out hard and uneven against Riku's ear, but it slowly calmed and Riku could feel Axel's heartbeat return to normal, or at least as normal as it could be.

"He… I don't get it, Riku. I'm not gay," he whispered in to Riku's ear. "I'm… I'm not _gay."_

Riku felt a pang of annoyance. "If you're not gay… then why are you so afraid of Roxas? What is it that you keep running from?"

Axel sat up straight and Riku let go of him. "What is it that I… keep _running_ from?" he repeated as though he hadn't heard Riku right.

"Axel… I'm not saying you're gay. But…" Riku sighed and shook his head, silver bangs spreading unevenly across his face. "There's nothing _wrong _with being _gay_."

Axel leaned forward, on his knees, and grabbed Riku's face. Their eyes locked for a moment before Axel kissed him.

In the distance Sora trudged up the hill and tried to spot Riku in the dark. He noticed two people sitting in the dirt, and just as he was about to call out to them he noticed they were a little close. And as he walked closer he noticed something familiar about that red hair and silver hair…

"R… Riku?" he said softly under his breath. Axel's lips were locked on Riku's in what appeared to be a passionate kiss in the heat of the moment. Sora blinked back tears he didn't understand and turned around, heading back to his dorm.

Riku pushed Axel back and stared at him. Not that he hadn't kissed back; he had, and that's what had scared him. Axel stared at Riku, mouth slightly parted, with an empty look on his face. They both wanted it, they could both _feel _the tension; there was no doubt about the wantonness that lingered in the air.

"Axel…?" Riku whispered as he reached his hand out. He touched Axel's face lightly, trying to get some kind of response from the redheaded boy. "Are you… okay?"

Axel blinked and Riku was thus rewarded with a response. "I'm… Riku…" Axel hesitated, not sure what to say. "This can't be happening." He shook his head before adding, "And you… you're… too?"

Riku looked down at the dirt and noticed that they had pretty much ruined their jeans. "I don't know, Axel."

"You kissed back."

"Yeah, and you kissed _me. _What did you _want _me to do, Axel? I… I just… I reacted." He thought about Sora and shook his head. "I can't… he's doesn't… feel the same." And as the words came out Riku slapped his hands over his mouth. "Damnit," he muttered.

Axel leaned in closer to Riku, closer than they ever did but for some reason it wasn't an obstacle anymore. "Who? Who doesn't feel the same? Did you… already know you were… yanno?"

"Gay? Jeez Axel, you can just say it already."

"If I say it… that makes it true," he whispered to the wind. Riku's eyes were concerned as he watched the way Axel's face only changed from one pained expression to another more heart wrenching one.

"Face it, Axel, we're gay," Riku said on deaf ears. "Why deny it? If it makes you happy, then it shouldn't matter, right? It doesn't change who we are; it doesn't change that we're friends. We just… like boys, okay?"

Axel shook his head and stood up. "Like… boys? I won't. Ever. Especially Roxas," he said angrily as he left Riku alone and in the dirt. But as he walked away he felt something in his gut twist and turn until he found himself heading to Roxas' dorm. Unaware of how quickly he had walked, he was suddenly faced with said dorm's door.

And then he knocked.

A light came on in the room and the door opened. A sleepy-eyed Roxas stared up at Axel as he tried to comprehend the situation. "A-Axel? What are you doing here?"

"I… don't know."

Before Roxas could say another word he was silence by Axel's lips on his own. The kiss was soft and sweet, like a first kiss should be. Roxas' eyes were open wide, but slowly they closed as he embraced the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world.

It seemed too good to be true.

Axel pushed Roxas back into the room and kicked the door closed behind them. Roxas' hands found Axel's shirt and his fingers went beneath to feel the redhead's soft skin and tiny waist. He could feel Axel grin as they kissed when Roxas stumbled awkwardly for a second in confusion.

"I think… that this can't be happening," Roxas whispered to Axel as they kissed. "Because I only dreamed about this happening."

"Don't talk. Because when you wake up in the morning, this never happened," Axel whispered back.

Roxas held back his pain as Axel's hands grabbed the smaller boy's hips and pulled him closer. Axel's lips trailed kisses down Roxas' face to his neck, then down to his collar bone. He nipped lightly and Roxas nearly squealed. Axel smirked as his hands lifted Roxas' shirt up over his head and tossed it to the floor. Then their eyes met for a moment and Axel stopped moving.

He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't _move_. "Axel?" Roxas whispered, reaching out to touch Axel.

"I… I can't…" he trailed off and looked away. "I'm not…"

Roxas had known as soon as he had opened the door. Axel wasn't ready to be gay, even if he was. But Roxas could accept that. For now, if that was all he could get, he could accept it. So he closed the distance between them and touched Axel's face gently with one hand while pulling Axel back into him with the other. Their kiss was brief before they ended up on the bed, Axel beneath Roxas.

Axel felt awkward, being on the bottom, but Roxas wasn't taking prisoners. "Close your eyes," Roxas whispered into Axel's ear. "It'll make it easier."

"Easier?"

Roxas pulled away from Axel and nodded, their faces close but not quite touching. "You can pretend… that I'm not me…"

Axel grabbed Roxas' face and pulled him down harshly for another kiss. Somewhere between the kissing and touching, Axel managed to mumble, "I _want_ it to be you."

Axel's breathing became uneven as he heard his own words echo inside his head. _I want it to be you. _His eyes fluttered open for a second as he stared at Roxas, dirty blond hair stuck to his face with a light sheen of sweat. He was beautiful, Axel could admit that much, but he forced himself to close his eyes. He didn't want to ruin the moment.

_It might be the only moment we have._


	5. Boys don't like boys

**Chapter Five**

_**Boys don't like boys**_

Sora sat at his desk, mindlessly staring at the blank computer screen. His cursor blinked as he tried to focus on his homework. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. He heard the doorknob turning and his heart caught in his throat. It must be Riku.

He didn't turn around when Riku walked in. The door closed, then locked, and he could feel Riku staring at him. "… Hey Sora," he said quietly as he walked over.

"Hi."

Riku stopped mid-step. There was something in Sora's voice that he had never heard before, but he couldn't place it. "Are… you okay?"

"Yeah."

Another one word answer. "You sure?"

"Uh huh."

Sora tried not to think about it. He tried not to think about Riku kissing Axel, how they were in the dirt, in the dark, under the moon. His best efforts were fouled by the pain in his heart that he couldn't place. Riku, his best friend. Riku, his roommate. Riku….

Riku's hand touched Sora's shoulder and Sora stiffened. "What?" he asked harshly.

"What's _wrong? _Did something happen? Did you and Roxas have a fight?"

Sora shook his head. "I haven't seen Roxas since he went to talk to Axel."

"Then… what is it?"

The images replayed in Sora's head. He couldn't pretend that it didn't bother him. He _could _pretend that he never saw it. Riku's business was Riku's business, and Sora had always given Riku his privacy. For whatever reason… it felt different this time.

"Sora, at least _look _at me!" Riku shouted as he spun Sora around in his chair. Sora tried to look away but Riku grabbed Sora's face and forced him to look up - up in to those aqua eyes that for the first time, didn't hide what Riku felt. "What is _wrong? _Tell me!"

Tears fell down Sora's face. He didn't know why he was crying; he didn't even know why he was so upset. Maybe because Riku hadn't told him, or because he was afraid of losing his best friend.

Or because of something else.

"Nothing!" he shouted as he moved his head away from Riku's hand and tried to push the taller boy away. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

Riku began to withdraw, but shook his head. After the night he'd had, there was no point in trying to fix it. He could at least help Sora, even if there wasn't anything he could do. So he bent over and put his arms around Sora, then pulled him tightly into his chest.

"Don't cry," he whispered into Sora's messy hair. "Don't ever cry."

But Sora only cried louder and harder. The cries became sobs and yelps as Riku tried to console his distraught friend. Everything he seemed to do however, only made Sora cry more. Riku bit his lip and buried his head in Sora's hair.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I don't know why you're upset… but I'm sorry."

"I… hate you."

Riku's heart stopped. "You… what?"

"I said I _hate _you."

Somewhere inside, Riku died.

Roxas awoke before Axel did. He turned on his side and watched Axel breathe in, then out, and smiled to himself. Maybe it could work, him and Axel. Maybe Axel could accept him. He _had_ spent the night, after all. However, in his head, he knew what was coming.

Axel rolled over and his face brushed against Roxas's bare chest. A small smile curled onto his lips as he threw his arm around the younger boy and pulled him closer. No words, just touches. Roxas ran his hand through Axel's hair and memorized the scent. Something spicy, but sweet; and beyond that, the light scent of sweat.

Roxas feared ruining the moment with words. Nothing he ever said came out right, anyway. His heart wanted to savor the moment for as long as it would last. Unfortunately, that wasn't long.

Axel's eyes fluttered open and met with Roxas's. There was a moment where Roxas felt, in his heart of hearts, that Axel would smile and make a smart-ass remark about his morning breath or bad hair, but there were no words. Axel rolled over and got out of the bed, pulled on his pants and shirt, and slipped his feet into his shoes.

Roxas stared. Then he opened his mouth. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" Axel shouted as his body trembled. He tried not to look at Roxas, and worked hard to ignore those big blue eyes staring at him with such pain. "Don't talk to me. Ever. This never happened."

But it had happened, and he had been the one to initiate it. Not that he would admit that to himself. Roxas had forced him to and now he needed to escape. It made the heartache easier to deal with.

"Axel, don't go." Roxas's words were soft-spoken. Axel looked up then, at the smaller boy sitting on the bed in his chicken print boxers, and his heart broke.

He did have a heart, after all.

"Roxas, don't," he warned. He knew Roxas could see his shoulders shaking, see his labored breathing as he began to back away. "Please, don't."

And then he turned and ran. Out the door, into the crowded hallway, where for a moment he couldn't see or breathe. His senses overwhelmed him as he tried to push away the pain in his chest.

Axel fell to his knees, arms wrapped around himself.

The door to Roxas's room flew open and Roxas ran out in his boxers, looking for Axel. He saw the tall redhead on the floor, seemingly in pain, and pushed his way past the other students to throw his arms around Axel.

"Get _off _of me!" Axel shouted as he pushed Roxas away. Then there was a crowd and Axel could hear the students' quiet murmurs. His greatest fear had come to life.

They knew.

"Axel, are you okay?" Roxas asked as he crawled back over. In the background he could hear someone ask if he was gay. Another student responded with a snide, _yes._

"Roxas, if you don't get away from me… I'm going to kill you," he hissed, looking over at Roxas. Roxas didn't shrink back. He wasn't scared anymore.

"Don't go. Please?"

"Get the _fuck_ away from me!" he screamed before punching Roxas in the face. The hallway was filled with a heavy, deadening silence. Axel stood up and ran. He ran far away from Roxas while Roxas sat on the floor.

The tears never came. Only the pain, then the numbness.

Riku went to classes in a daze. Axel did the same. At some point one of them called the other to make dinner plans and they agreed on the café, away from the source of their problems. They met late, Axel being later than Riku, and grabbed a table.

They sat in silence, their waitress finally giving up on them and setting water down on the table in a pitcher with two cups.

"Whenever you're ready… just wave," she mumbled before walking away.

Riku looked over at Axel, and Axel looked up. "How… was your day?" he asked.

Axel opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head. "I-I have no idea. I don't even remember what I did today." His words were soft and slow.

"I… Sora… Sora said he hated me," Riku found himself blurting.

"What?"

"He said… that he hated me. And then he cried. He cried all night but when I got up this morning, he was gone. I don't know what's wrong with him. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't say anything."

Axel blinked. "You don't think that…."

"What?"

Axel arched a brow. "Maybe he loves you."

"What would _that _have to do with it?"

"Well apparently the whole damn _school's _gay," he muttered as he poured himself a glass of water. "So why not Sora?"

Nothing managed to click in Riku's head. "So he hates me because he's gay?"

"No… he hates you because…." Axel trailed off. _Because he loves you and he's gay. _"Because he doesn't know how to tell you he's in love with you."

Riku's face flushed at the words. He could only imagine what it would be like to be in love and be loved back. He'd yet to experience such a thing. "Have you been watching Disney movies again?"

Axel snorted and tried not to spit the water out of his nose. "No!"

"Then… what's wrong with you?"

Riku already had an idea. He'd heard the rumors the students had been whispering about all day, carefully avoiding Axel's ears to save their lives. But Axel hadn't been in any mood to fight, or talk, or do much of anything but wander around campus from class to class. He'd even skipped the DIVGA meeting that evening.

"You ask… like you don't already know."

"I don't know the truth."

_"I don't know what the truth is!" _Axel shouted as he slammed a fist down on the table. "I don't know how it even fucking _happened _but now the whole school is talking about it and I can't deal with this anymore!"

Riku stared. So did the rest of the restaurant. "Axel… just, uh, tell me what happened."

"I… I kissed him," he whispered, eyes darting from right to left like saying it was taboo. "I kissed Roxas, and…." He trailed off and took another gulp of water. "I _stayed over."_

Riku arched a brow, shocked at Axel's actions. "So did you, uh, yanno…."

"Fuck?" Axel spat out.

"I wouldn't put it that way," Riku said softly as his eyes drifted away from Axel's face. "I mean, it doesn't have to be meaningless. That word implies that it's meaningless." His face turned back to Axel and he smiled sadly. "Did it mean something to you?"

"What?"

"Being with Roxas. If you… did it…. Did it mean something?"

Axel shoulders began to shake as he closed his eyes. "Riku, don't ask me that."

"Ask if you did it, or if you did it and it _meant _something?"

Axel's arms began to shake with his shoulders. "Stop it."

"Well?"

"Well _what?"_

Riku reached out and grabbed Axel's hand that was white from clutching the table so hard. Axel's hand wrapped around Riku's and he opened his eyes. "Did it mean something?"

Axel choked back a sob and Riku knew.

Sora knocked on Roxas's door. The whole day Roxas hadn't attended classes, or even left his room Sora assumed, so he figured he'd stop by. Besides, he'd heard the rumors during lunch. According to the school, Axel was gay.

Roxas opened the door slowly, peering out carefully. His eyes watched Sora for a moment before letting him in. They sat down on the bed together, both enjoying the silence for a moment. Sora was the first to speak.

"You weren't in class today."

"I know."

"Did something happen?"

"You ask like you already know."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I heard some stuff."

"So did I."

"About what?"

Roxas looked at Sora and blinked. "About… _you."_

Sora seemed surprised as he scratched the back of his head and grinned childishly. "Aww, I didn't think I was popular!"

Roxas arched a brow and put his hands in his lap. "Uh, well it's not like it's a rumor exactly. I heard it from Demyx who heard it from Axel..." He trailed off as his tongue tasted that name. Axel. It was bittersweet and even Sora could see the change in Roxas's composure as the word came out.

"Roxas—"

_"Anyway,_ he heard it from Riku. That you… something happened. You got really upset and they're all worried about you. I thought you would've come sooner than now." He looked at the clock. "It's late."

"I know. I just… tried to ignore it today. I actually wanted to sleep in here tonight, if you don't mind. Since, yanno, you don't have a roommate."

Roxas's eyes went wide. "What the hell _happened _Sora?"

"I… I saw Riku… and… and…." The words wouldn't come out. Sora closed his eyes tightly, trying to fight back the tears that so desperately needed to come out. Riku had held him for a long time, letting Sora cry into his chest…

_Riku stood in his and Sora's room alone, holding the shirt Sora had cried into the night before. He stared at it, even with all the dirt stains, and fingered it gingerly. A tight-lipped smile appeared on his face as he tried to think. Nothing seemed clear or simple anymore. He brought the shirt to his face and held it there, smelling Sora's tears._

"What did he do?"

Sora bit his lip so hard it almost bled. "I don't understand it, Roxas!"

"Understand _what?"_

He opened his eyes and tears fell. Roxas reached out and wiped them off Sora's face. "Why does it _hurt so much?"_

Roxas understood. There wasn't anything left to be said.

Sora was in love.

"What did you see?" he asked quietly as Sora sobbed softly next to him. Roxas pulled Sora down and put the boy's head in his lap as he stroked his spiky hair. "What's making you cry?"

"I should ask… ask you the same," Sora choked out through sobs. "With Axel."

"You tell me first. You're the one who's crying."

"That's because you _don't _cry, Roxas!"

Roxas smirked and let his hand rest on Sora's head. "I guess so."

"The other night, the night you told Axel how you felt…." Sora took a deep breath and raised his hand to clutch Roxas's knee. "I saw Axel kissing Riku…."

A single tear formed in Roxas's eye but he wiped it away, pretending it had never been there.

_Axel kicked his shoes off, then pulled off his socks to dig his toes into the sand. He stared up at the sky, admiring the stars. A shooting star flew by and he smirked. "Why can't I just accept you, huh? Why are you so _stupid?" _He laughed quietly and shook his head. He could feel his chest burning and tighten as he tried to push the thoughts away. "Why do you make it alright for me to be so fucking horrible…"_

"So you think that… Axel and Riku…." Roxas couldn't finish the sentence.

"I don't know. They were sitting in the dirt and Axel was holding Riku's face." Sora cried harder. "It doesn't make sense. He's my _best friend _and _roommate. _Why does it hurt?"

"You tell me," Roxas responded quietly.

Sora sighed and buried his head in Roxas's lap. "I don't wanna think about it anymore, Roxas. Tell me what happened with Axel."

"Hmm?"

"I heard that he was in your room this morning and you… you ran out in my chicken boxers!" Sora joked through the tears and sobs. He smiled into Roxas's lap as Roxas nodded his head.

"Last night he came over. He knocked on my door after I told him how I felt and he ran away from me. Then he kissed me and we… we…." Roxas couldn't finish his sentence as the words caught in his throat. The images in his head were so vivid, so real, but it was all fake. Nothing was real.

It didn't change how he felt.

"Did he love you?"

"What?"

Sora sat up and wiped the fresh tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "Did he love you? That night, did you… yanno." He blushed as he shook his head refusing to say the words.

"Did we have...yanno?"

Sora nodded vigorously.

"Yeah."

"And?"

Roxas sighed and let his head hang down. He didn't want Sora to see his eyes. He wanted to pretend that it didn't happen so the feelings would disappear.

"Hey." Sora lifted Roxas head and touched his bruised cheek. "I didn't even see it with your hair all in your face earlier. What happened? Did you fall down?"

One pained sob escaped Roxas's lips before he covered his mouth. He wouldn't cry in front of Sora. Sora was his friend and Sora needed him; he had to be strong for them both. At least he'd come to terms with himself. Sora was still working on it.

"Roxas!" Sora exclaimed as his eyes fluttered wildly and he flailed his arms. "What did he _do?"_

"This morning… when he left… I-I ran out into the hallway in my boxers and he was on the floor. I wanted to make sure he was okay because he ran away from me. I just wanted to hold him, to have him hold me. But he pushed me away and told me he never wanted to see me again, and then… h-he… he…." Roxas took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "He punched me. And ran away."

Sora's mouth formed a large O as nothing escaped his lips. Closing his mouth, he sat up on his knees and put his arms around Roxas. "I'm sorry."  
"Sora…"

"Nuh uh."

"What?"

"I hate boys."

_"What?"_

Sora giggled into Roxas's ear. "I said I'm sick of boys because they make me sad. Riku makes me sad. Axel makes you sad. Boys make us sad."

"… Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"… Thanks."

Sora squeezed Roxas tighter. "Yeah."

Axel woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Demyx rolled over in his bed, mumbling something about his sitar, but stayed fast asleep. In the dark Axel threw on a pair of half-destroyed black sweats and a white tank, ignored putting on shoes, and left. He ran down the hallway to the opposite side of the building and stopped in front of Roxas's door. There was no light under it.

He lifted his hand to knock, but paused. "I… I.…" he shook his head and forced himself to knock. When no one answered he knocked again.

The door opened.

Sora stared at Axel, then blinked. "What are _you _doing here?" he asked softly, glancing back once to see if Roxas had woken up. "He's sleeping."

"I need to talk to him, Sora. Please."

"You broke his _face, _Axel." He rolled his eyes and added, "To mention _one _thing."

"What?"

"His _face _is bruised because you hit him. I know. He told me."

Axel's face fell. "C'mon, Sora. Lemme talk to him!"

"Shut _up!" _Sora hissed as he waved one hand around frantically. "He's finally _sleeping!"_

Axel slammed his hand against the door and forced his way in. "Roxas!" he shouted out. "Wake _up!"_

"Axel!" Sora shouted angrily as he closed the door quietly behind himself and turned on a small lamp in the corner of the room. "Go away! You already hurt him enough!"

Roxas opened his eyes and sat up slowly. "Hmm?" He looked at Sora, then at Axel. "W… What the hell are _you _doing here?" he asked slowly, staring at Axel as if he couldn't really be there.

He shouldn't have been.

"I want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Because… because I need to."

"Get out. Got it _memorized?" _Roxas snapped.

"W-What?" Axel stuttered, throwing his hands out to either side of his body. "Roxas, _c'mon! _I just wanna _talk."_

Roxas shook his head. "I know about Riku. Sora told me. He _saw, _fuckhead!"

Axel stared at Roxas in shock. Roxas had used the word 'fuck' in regards to him. He was more than just a little angry, but Axel had already expected that.

"What are you talking about? Saw _what?"_

_ "He saw you kiss Riku! _Now get out of my _room!"_

There was a knock on the door and Axel turned to throw it open. "What the fuck do you _want?" _he shouted into the hallway.

Wakka cleared his throat. "Axel… I don't know what you're _doing here _at this hour, but you already caused a scene this morning and you're lucky I didn't file a report about you hitting Roxas, only because he didn't want you _expelled. _But you're loud, and I think it's time for you to leave."

"You can't _make _me," Axel said defiantly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Wakka did the same and gave Axel a dirty look. "I'm the RA on this floor. Yes, I _can. _Now leave. Or I'm calling Cloud."

Axel rolled his eyes. "What's he gonna do? He's just _campus security," _he spat.

"He can have you arrested. Now get the hell out."

Axel turned to look at Roxas, but Roxas shook his head and looked away. "Just go," he mumbled. Sora shot Axel a dirty look and stomped his foot on the ground to emphasize what Roxas had just said.

"But…."

"NOW!" Sora screamed. "Go _away!"_

Axel nodded his head slowly and shoved past Wakka down the hallway toward Riku's room. He had nowhere else to go, no one else to talk to. He didn't want to go back to his own room, and Riku's wasn't that far away. At least Riku would understand.

He knocked for propriety's sake but opened the door a second later. The light was on underneath and he knew Riku would be up. "Hey," he said glumly as he sat down on Sora's bed.

Riku turned around in his chair and stared at Axel. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't _you?"_

Riku shrugged. "Sora never came back tonight."

"That's because he's in Roxas's room."

"How would _you _know that?" And then Riku thought about it and sighed, putting his head in his hands. "What happened now?"

"I got kicked out. Roxas didn't want to talk to me. And Sora hates me. And you. Everyone hates us. And it's my fault!" Axel prattled. "Sora _saw _me kiss you that night. And that's why he's mad. He told Roxas and now Roxas hates me and I don't know what to do!"

Riku looked up and stared at Axel. "W-What? He _saw?"_

Axel nodded his head. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"You're _damned right_ it's your fault!" Riku shouted. "Do you know how _bad _I felt about Sora crying in my arms? I didn't know what to do and he wouldn't even _tell me_ and now I find out it's because you're a fucking _idiot _and now I have to pay for it?"

"I'm… I-I'm sorry!"

"Get the _fuck _out of my room before I fucking _kill you, _Axel!" Riku belted. _"Now!"_

Axel didn't argue. He left and Riku tried to stop shaking from anger. He shut his laptop harshly and sprinted out the door and down the hallway to Roxas's room. Riku knocked softly on the door and he could hear voices inside talking before the door opened.

Sora peeked his head out and nearly fell over. "Riku?" he asked meekly.

Riku nodded. "Can I talk to you?"

"Now?"

"Yeah, Sora. Please."

Sora turned around and said something quietly to Roxas who obviously agreed because Sora stepped out of the room and closed the door behind himself. He looked up at Riku and gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Let's take a walk."

"But it's the middle of the _night."_

Riku grinned and grabbed Sora's hand. "I know."

He pulled him down the hallway down into the common room and locked the door behind himself. Sora sat down on the couch and crossed his legs, eyes watching Riku nervously. When Riku turned back around Sora focused his eyes on the floor.

Riku sat down next to him and let out a heavy sigh. "I guess I should explain?"

"Explain what?" Sora asked dumbly.

"About Axel."

"Yeah?" Sora didn't look up. "I get it. I just didn't know you… liked _guys."_

Riku scratched the back of his head and nodded. "I… guess I do."

"So?"

"I didn't kiss Axel. He kissed me." Sora tried not to sneer. "It was after Roxas had talked to him and I saw him running away so I followed him. He fell in the dirt and I sat down next to him to try and calm him down. He_ is _my friend, Sora."

"… I know."

"He was confused and he kissed me to figure things out, I suppose. After that he went to see Roxas…." Riku's voice fell as he said the words. "And then everything between them happened. But I'm not—"

"I get it. So… we're friends?" Sora looked up and smiled sweetly at Riku. "Friends forever, right?"

Riku's smile faltered, but only for a moment before nodding. "Yeah… friends forever."


End file.
